Till There Was You
by Selene13
Summary: Hiroko Gouhara always thought that she will never have a chance to love... until she hits a certain basketball player with her tennis ball with accident KogureXOC Final Chapter uploaded
1. Twice A Day

Disclaimer: All Slam Dunk characters don't belong to me.

Author's Note: Story's timeframe doesn't match with themanga series story's. Out of Canon.

Chapter 1: Twice a Day

Kiminobu Kogure was in a rush. He was going to be late for his basketball practice! All because he _had_ to ask his sensei about the Biology lesson for the day.

As he ran as the Shohoku Sports Complex, Kogure looked at his watch. 2.58pm. The basketball court was just ahead, if only he could just buck up and ran faster, maybe he could make it…

"Look out!" cried a voice and a few girls screamed.

Kogure looked to his left and…

BONK

… a tennis ball hit him right on the forehead.

Kogure fell onto the ground, along with the tennis ball. He lay on the floor, dazed. His glasses was a few steps away from him. He heard footsteps coming towards to him and voices talking in panic. Then he was surrounded by people who looked down at him. He couldn't see their faces clearly as he didn't have his glasses on.

"Is he dead?" asked a male voice.

"Baka, nobody dies from getting hit by a tennis ball!" said another male voice.

"Chotto… he looks familiar… Isn't he that vice captain of the basketball team?" said a female voice.

"Ah, he is!" said another girl excitedly.

"Baka, will you guys just don't stand here talking and help him up?" demanded a female voice.

The crowd parted and a girl gave him her hand. "Here, take my hand."

Kogure took it and the girl helped him up. "Gomen, that was my tennis ball, I'm not a very good player… Daijobu?"

Kogure shook his head to clear it. "I'm all right. My glasses…."

The girl picked his glasses up and handed it to him. "Hai."

"Arigato." said Kogure and put it on.

At last, he could see his surroundings clearly, and in front of him, was a pretty girl with long brown hair and light brown eyes.

"I'm really sorry." she said apologetically and she bended down. She picked up Kogure's bag and handed it to him.

"Arigato." said Kogure again. "Well, at least I didn't get a brain damage." he joked.

"Hey, are you going for your basketball practice?" asked a girl with black hair excitedly.

"Hai… ah!" cried Kogure and looked at his watch. 3.10pm. "I'm late!"

Without another word, Kogure ran off.

"Aw, I was about to ask him whether he could get Rukawa's signature for me." said the black-haired girl in disappointment.

* * *

"You're late, Kogure!" barked Akagi, the captain of the team as Kogure stepped into the court.

"Gomen! I will go and change…" said Kogure and he did in a fast speed and joined the others.

The basketball practice started once Kogure joined the team. Sakuragi was improving in his skills but he was still no match for Rukawa.

"Ah!" yelled Miyagi as Sakuragi did a rebound on his shot.

"Go, Rebound King!" cheered Haruko as she sat at the benches at the side of the court.

Sakuragi landed on his feet, turned and gave his crush a silly grin.

"Don't look at the side of the court during a game!" snapped Akagi.

Kogure couldn't help smiling, it was obvious that Sakuragi had a crush on Akagi's sister, Haruko, but he never confessed his feelings for her. Besides, Haruko preferred the silent, cool looking Rukawa…

Speaking of girls, Kogure began to wonder about the name of the girl who helped him just now. Blushing slightly, Kogure had to admit that the girl looked kind of pretty, and he had a tiny hope that he could see her again…

"_If only I had asked for her name ..…_" thought Kogure. "_Maybe she's on the tennis team? I could ask my friends over there to find out about her…No, she said she was a bad player, maybe she played for fun…_"

"Kogure, catch!" yelled Mitsui's voice.

"Huh?" said Kogure, looking up.

BONK

The basketball hit him directly on the head. For the second time of the day, Kogure fell.

His team mates rushed to him anxiously.

"Oh dear, I didn't realise that he wasn't concentrating on the game." said Mitsui.

"And I thought only an idiot like Sakuragi will get hit by the ball in this way." said Rukawa in his usual slow, cool way.

"Nani?" asked Sakuragi, irritated by Rukawa's remark.

"I'm just stating the truth." said Rukawa calmly.

Sakuragi scowled. "Dah! Rukawa…."

"Oi, Kogure, daijobu?" asked Mitsui.

Kogure looked at Mitsui before he grinned weakly. "I'm okay…"

He then fainted.


	2. Hiroko

Chapter 2: Hiroko

Three days later, with a bandage around his head, Kogure looked through the selves for books in the school library.

Because of that killer pass of Mitsui, Kogure ended up in the school infirmary for a day, unconscious, and when he woke up, he found a mixture of purple and black bruise on his forehead.

Mitsui apologized endlessly, Kogure accepted it. His parents, on the other hand, weren't so forgiving and somehow concluded that Mitsui did it on purpose. Luckily Kogure managed to explain to his parents about the whole situation (of course he never told them why exactly he wasn't concentrating on the game).

Looking down on his books, Kogure thought he had enough of them to help him to catch up with his classes. He couldn't believe there was a huge amount of stuff he had missed during his absence from classes.

Carrying his books with no difficulty, Kogure strolled back to his seat but then he stopped. There was a girl sitting on his seat, her back was facing him. His own bag was on the floor beside the chair where he left it.

Taking a deep breath, Kogure walked to the girl.

"Sumimasen, but I think you have taken my seat." said Kogure politely.

The girl looked up and Kogure nearly dropped his books. It was the girl that he was thinking of during practice.

"Ah…" started the girl, as if she recognized him and she quickly stood up. "Gomen, you can have the seat back if you want…"

Kogure said, "Iie, you can have it. I will just sit here…"

He sat down on another chair but he kept a safe distance away from the girl. He opened his book and began to read it.

"Ano… did I do that?" asked the girl.

"Eh?" said Kogure, looking up.

The girl pointed at his injury. "Is that caused by my tennis ball?"

"Oh, this!" said Kogure and grinned. "Iie, it was caused my team mate, he threw the basketball at me when I didn't notice. Well, it's my fault. I should be concentrating on the game instead of thinking of…"

Then Kogure realized that he had said too much and went quiet.

"Good," said the girl in relief. "And I thought I have caused a serious injury."

Kogure smiled at her. "Well, you didn't."

Then he remembered about asking the girl's name.

"Ano… what's your name?"

The girl smiled at him. "Hiroko Gouhara. I'm a second year. You're Kiminobu Kogure from third year, right?"

Kogure blinked. "How…"

"You and the rest of Shohoku basketball team are famous, everyone knows you."

Kogure laughed loudly, but quickly stopped because he saw the librarian glaring at him. "The rest of the team maybe, but me? I'm just the vice-captain of the team. I seldom play in games."

"But you are an excellent three-points shooter." said Hiroko. "At least that's what I heard from my friends."

"I'm a fair three-points shooter." said Kogure modestly. "By the way…"

Suddenly, a girl rushed into the library and screamed, "Rukawa is leaving! Better catch him before it's too late!"

All of the girls stood up and ran out, much to the librarian's displease.

Watching the girls, Kogure just smiled. "Girls." he muttered.

Then he noticed Hiroko didn't follow the rest. "Eh? Why didn't you follow the girls?"

"I'm not interested in Rukawa." said Hiroko.

"That's new." said Kogure, grinning. "Any girl who has seen him in action will fall for him."

Hiroko blushed slightly. "I have never seen Rukawa in action. I have never seen any of your team's matches."

"Why?" asked Kogure, bewildered. "You're not interested in basketball?"

"No, I like basketball. My cousin always shows me how it is played when he comes over to my house. I'm just not allowed to watch matches."

"Why?"

Hiroko sighed. Kogure noticed that her skin was fairer than the rest of the girls he had come across.

"I have a heart condition. There's a hole in my heart. My parents won't allow me to take part in stuff that will tire me out. I have never seen live sports games in my whole life, neither have I been to the amusement park, my parents think that place will excite me too much."

Confused, Kogure asked, "But you played tennis."

Hiroko giggled. "Actually, I don't think my problem is very serious. My parents are just making a big fuss. I sometimes just stand at the tennis court with a racket in my hand. I never run or anything, I just hit the ball when it comes near me."

"I see…" muttered Kogure and looked at Hiroko's book. "Do you come here often?"

Hiroko nodded. "Since I can't go out much, I will just stay indoors and read. I painted too, in fact, I have painted too much lately that I'm neglecting my homework. I have to read more to catch up on my classes."

She made a face at her book. "I hate Chemistry."

"Why? Chemistry is interesting." said Kogure suddenly.

Hiroko stared at him with her eyes widened.

Silence.

(Kogure sweatdrops)

"Baka, Kogure, you have just shown her that you are a geek." thought Kogure.

"What I mean is…" said Kogure quickly.

"You understand Chemistry?" asked Hiroko suddenly.

"Hai…" said Kogure slowly.

"Great!" said Hiroko and asked, "Ne, can you teach me, please?"

That was unexpected.

"Eh?" asked Kogure.

"I don't understand anything about Chemistry at all! I need someone to teach me, so please." said Hiroko.

"Okay." said Kogure, nodding.

* * *

Kogure spent a long time teaching Hiroko about atoms and molecules. Finally, he heard the librarian saying: "Do you two mind? I'm closing the library."

Kogure and Hiroko looked up at the clock. 6.30pm.

"Oh no!" said Hiroko, standing up. "I'm supposed to be home by this time!"

Picking her bag, she said to Kogure. "Gomen ne, I have to go. Why don't we meet here again? Tomorrow at 7am? Before the class starts?"

Kogure couldn't help smiling. She actually wanted to meet him! "Okay."

"Great, sayonara!" said Hiroko, walking out of the library as fast as possible.

Kogure watched as she left. He was glad that he and Hiroko were now friends and…

"Do you mind?" asked the librarian in irritation.

Kogure looked up at the librarian's dark face and quickly gathered his books. He then ran out of the library.

* * *

It was 7.15pm when Hiroko got home. "I'm home…" she said slowly.

Hermother rushed to her anxiously. "Hiroko, where have you been?"

"Gomenasai, Okasan." said Hiroko. "I was studying with a friend and I forgot the time…"

Mrs Gouhara sighed in relief. "Hiroko, your father and I are good enough to send you to a normal school instead of a special school for… well, people with your condition. Will you be so kind and stop letting us to worry about you?"

Hiroko bit her lip. Her mother sounded like it was all her fault.

"But…" started Hiroko but she knew it was no use to argue with her mother. "Hai."

"Now go and change your clothes. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. And don't forget to take your medicine."

"Hai."

"By the way, your cousin called. Better call him back."

"Hai." said Hiroko tiredly.

Sighing, Hiroko turned and went to her bedroom, which was just on the first floor and closed her door.


	3. Interrogation

Chapter 3: Interrogation

Hiroko was glad to have Kogure as a friend. Not only he was gentle, he's smart too and could teach Hiroko the subjects that she couldn't understand.

It became a regular routine for the two to meet up together every morning to study. Sometimes when they had ran out of things to study, they chatted instead, which was a good way to find out more about each other. Soon they became good friends.

As days passed, Kogure found himself looking forward to every morning, because that was the only time he would meet Hiroko. It was nice to have a good friend to talk to. He liked Hiroko more and more as the days went by.

In order to meet Hiroko, Kogure had to reject all those morning basketball practices that his friends offered, much to their displease.

* * *

One morning, Kogure was up early again, brushing his teeth. His parents came into the kitchen, yawning.

"Ohayou, Kiminobu." said his parents.

Kogure tried to greet back, but his toothbrush was in his mouth, so he could only manage an unidentified greeting.

"You're up early today again. Are you going to the library?" asked Mrs Kogure.

Kogure rinsed his mouth. "Hai."

"I have never seen you so enthusiastic in your studies, not that you never like studying, but isn't going to the library every morning is a bit too much?" asked Mr Kogure suspiciously.

"I'm, err, tutoring a friend of mine." said Kogure, turning his back against his parents and washing his face.

"Boy or girl?" asked his mother in amusement.

Kogure paused.

"It's Sakuragi." lied Kogure finally, silently prayed that Sakuragi wouldn't find out that he used him as an excuse.

"Don't lie to your Okaasan, Kiminobu." said his father. "It's a girl, isn't it?"

Kogure looked at his parents as he wiped his face.

"Ah, look at you, your cheeks are going red!" said his mother.

"I wiped my face too hard!" said Kogure in defence and covered his face with his towel, revealing only his eyes.

Mr Kogure laughed. "All right, out with it. What's her name?"

"… Hiroko Gouhara." said Kogure slowly as he put on his glasses.

"Oh…" said his parents. Kogure could see that his parents were up to something.

"We are just good friends." added Kogure quickly.

"Yeah right." said Mrs Kogure. "Bring her back for dinner someday, all right?"

Kogure was blushing furiously now. "We haven't gone that far yet…" he said. "I mean…"

All his parents did was laugh.

* * *

Kogure rushed to school, his bag hanging on his shoulder. He was going to be late with his meeting with Hiroko, all because his parents' "interrogation".

He ran past the school gate.

"Oi, Kogure!" someone yelled.

Kogure turned and saw his team mates (except Rukawa, who was probably still at home, sleeping). All of them looked as if they were going to a basketball practice.

"We are going to shoot some baskets before class, want to come?" asked Miyagi.

Kogure looked at his watch and said, "I can't, I'm late!"

"For what?" asked Sakuragi, but Kogure had already left.

"I wonder what's he rushing for." said Miyagi.

"No idea, he has been like that for days." complained Mitsui.

Sakuragi grinned. "Why don't we go and find out?"

"What for?" asked Miyagi.

"Just curious." said Sakuragi. "Come on, let's follow him. I think he's heading towards the library."

"Boring." said Akagi. "I'm going to shoot some baskets myself."

"Oi, Akagi, don't you want to follow Kogure?" asked Sakuragi.

"Baka, I'm not crazy enough to do something like that." said Akagi.

"Then we will go." said Sakuragi, leading Miyagi and Mitsui. "We will go shoot baskets later…"

They only walked for a few steps when…

"Chotto matte!" called Akagi fiercely, his loud call managed to stop the trio in their tracks.

"Nadayo?" asked Sakuragi.

"Report to me what's he has been up to when you three come back to court." said Akagi.

* * *

The trio went to the library and peeked in through the glass door. They saw Kogure, taking books out of shelves.

"He's just studying, nothing interesting." said Miyagi.

"But Megane-kun's grades are excellent, he doesn't have to study so much." said Sakuragi.

"C-chotto, he's going to a table… with a brown-haired girl sitting at it!" reported Mitsui.

"Let's go in." said Sakuragi excitedly and pushed the door open.

"Chotto, oi, Hanamichi!" whispered Miyagi in panic.

But Sakuragi had already gone into the library. Thinking he had no choice, Miyagi followed. Feeling rather stupid standing outside the library alone, Mitsui went in as well.

The three of them carefully stayed out of Kogure's sight and grabbed books from a shelf nearby. They then sat down a few tables behind Kogure and Hiroko and hid their faces behind their books.

Looking over their books, the trio watched as Kogure and Hiroko having a deep discussion.

"So that's why he doesn't want to play basketball with me in the morning." Mitsui muttered as he watched Kogure leaning closer to Hiroko to teach her about a certain subject in her book.

"He values girls more than his friends now." said Miyagi.

"Traitor." said Sakuragi simply.

"Look, Kogure is standing up." said Mitsui and the trio hid their faces as Kogure walked past them. "Probably gone to the toilet."

"Let's go and say hello to that kawaii friend of Megane-kun's." said Sakuragi, tossing his book aside.

"But…" started Miyagi.

"But what? We are just concerned." said Sakuragi.

"Nosy is more like it." said Mitsui.

Sakuragi tried to ignore him. Mitsui sat for a while before he got up as well.

"Now who's nosy?" said Sakuragi, grinning.

"Oh shut up." snapped Mitsui, sulking.

* * *

Hiroko was reading her textbook when three big shadows cast over her, blocking the light.

She looked up and saw Sakuragi, Miyagi, and Mitsui looking down at her. With their massive height (even Miyagi was a few centimetres taller than her) and hard stares, they looked intimidating.

(Hiroko sweatdrops)

Sakuragi and Mitsui bended down and leaned against the table. Hiroko gathered her book and backed off in fear.

They looked at Hiroko coolly.

"We want to ask you…" started Mitsui.

"Hai?" asked Hiroko slowly.

"What's your relationship with Kogure?" asked Sakuragi suddenly.

"Eh?" responded Hiroko in surprise.

"We are his basketball team mates and we are concerned about him." explained Mitsui.

"K-Kogure and I are just good friends." said Hiroko nervously.

Sakuragi and Mitsui stared at Hiroko in doubt.

"Really." added Hiroko quickly.

Sakuragi and Mitsui continued to stare.

"Err, guys…" started Miyagi, looking at the direction of the door.

"Quiet, Miyagi." said Sakuragi and turned to Hiroko. "No wonder Kogure has been neglecting us lately, so he's accompanying you during mornings." he said, grinning.

"It's not like that…" said Hiroko, blushing.

"What are you guys doing?" asked a voice in panic.

Sakuragi and Mitsui looked up and found Kogure standing beside Miyagi. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

Standing up, Sakuragi and Mitsui turned back at Hiroko. "Sumimasen, can we borrow Kogure for a moment?"

"Err, hai." said Hiroko.

* * *

The trio turned. Mitsui and Sakuragi grabbed Kogure by the arms and dragged him out of the library.

"Guys, let me go…" pleaded Kogure and his team mates did when they got out of the library.

"Who is she?" asked his friends, all of them were grinning in an evil way. They were so close to him that Kogure panicked. He was surrounded!

"Err, a friend of mine." stammered Kogure.

"Your cheeks are pink." pointed out Miyagi, who was standing right in front of him.

Covering his cheeks with his hands, Kogure turned his face away from Miyagi, but he faced Mitsui on his left.

"How long have you known her?" he asked.

Kogure turned and found Sakuragi on his right. "Own up, Megane-kun, or we will throw the basketball at you again." he threatened.

"Hiroko and I are just good friends!" said Kogure.

"Oh, Hiroko…" said his friends in unison, all looking at him

"Really!" insisted Kogure.

His friends all looked in different direction.

"Guys!" called Kogure in exasperation.

"Eh? What did you just say?" asked Sakuragi.

"I didn't hear anything." said Mitsui coolly.

"Me either." said Miyagi.

"Dah…" thought Kogure.

Feeling that he had no other way, Kogure sighed and said, "Fine. I confessed. I do like her."

"Eh!" cried the trio and leaned close to him in excitement. "So how long have you been going out with her?" asked Sakuragi with interest.

Kogure shook his head.

"Eh, what do you mean by that?" asked Mitsui.

"She doesn't know that I like her." said Kogure. "I, um, I don't know how to confess, I mean, I don't want to rush things…"

Kogure sighed and turned away from them. "I like her ever since I met her but I'm afraid if I confess to her too soon, I might scare her off. I may be good at studying, but I'm not good at courting girls…"

He turned back to his friends. "Maybe I will wait… eh?"

Miyagi and Sakuragi were looking at Kogure with tears rolling down their cheeks like water taps. Mitsui backed away from his two team mates.

(Kogure sweatdrops)

"We understand perfectly." said Sakuragi and Miyagi in unison.

* * *

"Hiroko-san, here's Kogure, safe and sound." said Mitsui, smiling broadly at Hiroko a few minutes later in the library.

Kogure sat down beside Hiroko.

"We must be off, bye Hiroko-san, bye Megane-kun." said Sakuragi, grinning.

"Don't call me that!" said Kogure, embarrassed.

"See you at practice." said Miyagi, smiling. "And good luck!"

"Good luck for what?" asked Hiroko, curious.

Kogure blushed. "F-for our homework!" he said quickly.


	4. To the Beach

Chapter 4: To the Beach

Wheee!

Ayako blew her whistle. "All right, practice time is over! Gather around here!"

"Good job, Kogure." said Mitsui, as he tossed the basketball at his friend.

"Arigato," said Kogure, catching the ball and smiling.

"All right, we are in pretty good shape today. Keep this up and we will able to beat Kirameki High School from Hokkaido and head straight to battle Apollo Collage from Tokyo!" said Ayako excitedly.

"Kirameki High?" said Mitsui and smiled in confidence. "They are one weak team, we sure could beat them."

"Now, basketball matters aside. Since the game against Kirameki won't be taking place until 2 weeks later and we have done well in our last game, why don't we take a break this weekend?" asked Ayako, winking. "My uncle owns a bungalow near the beach."

"Will you be going?" asked Miyagi.

"Of course." said Ayako.

Miyagi grinned. "I want to go!"

"I don't want to, too boring." said Rukawa coolly.

The boys decided to ignore him.

"What about Haruko?" asked Sakuragi, looking at his crush hopefully.

"Well, there're too much boys over there…" said Haruko slowly.

Sakuragi panicked. He would bore to death if Haruko didn't want to go to beach! Then he thought of something.

"No problem!" said Sakuragi and slapped Kogure's back. "Oi, Megane-kun, why don't you ask that girlfriend of yours to come along? Then there will be three girls instead of two."

Kogure blushed furiously.

"Eh? Kogure, I didn't know you have a girlfriend." said Ayako, slightly interested.

"She isn't my girlfriend!" said Kogure, embarrassed.

"What's her name?" asked Haruko.

"Hiroko." said Mitsui, Sakuragi and Miyagi before Kogure could speak.

"She's very pretty." added Mitsui.

"Good, I would love to meet a new friend." said Haruko.

"Very well, ask Hiroko-san to come along." said Ayako.

"I don't think she can go…" started Kogure, afraid to think what the hot weather could do to Hiroko, especially at the beach.

"Ask her." said the boys (minus Rukawa, who was clearly not interested), all with a threatening look on their faces.

Kogure swallowed nervously.

He was about to say no when he remembered Hiroko's comment about her parents about them not letting her to take part in anything that excite her.

"A-all right… I will ask her." said Kogure.

The boys smiled in satisfaction.

* * *

"Ne, Hiroko…" started Kogure the next day at the library.

"Hm?" asked Hiroko as she did her homework.

"What will you be doing during your summer vacation?" asked Kogure.

"Same as always, stay indoors." said Hiroko, smiling. "I will probably paint over a dozen of paintings by the time the vacation is over. My parents won't allow me to go out during summer vacation."

"Have they ever made an exception?"

"Most of time they let me to go out with my cousin, but he lives too far away, so he seldom asks me out." said Hiroko. "Why?"

"Eh… it's my friends, they, um, want to know whether you want to join us for a beach outing…" said Kogure slowly.

Hiroko's eyes widened. Then she said in delight, "I would love to go!"

"You would?" asked Kogure happily. Then he frowned. "But your parents…"

Hiroko's smile faded. "Oh yeah…"

Silence.

Then Kogure thought of something. "Chotto matte, I think I have a plan…"

* * *

The first weekend of summer vacation came and Hiroko stayed at home. She had told her parents about the beach outing and she was not surprised that they forbade her to go.

Regardless, Hiroko packed the things that she needed for the outing and waited in her bedroom. She looked at the clock, 1pm.

Ding Dong.

Hiroko jumped up from her bed and went to the bedroom door. She opened her door slightly and looked out.

"Hai!" called Mrs Gouhara. She went to the door and opened it.

* * *

Mrs Gouhara was startled to see so many youngsters standing outside her door. All of them were wearing their casual clothes and with travelling bags in their hands. One of them even had a beach umbrella. All of the boys were very tall and they were carrying a basketball and volleyball.

"Konnichiwa, Obasan," said Ayako politely. "Is Hiroko home?"

"Hai. You are…."

Kogure came forward. "We are friends of Hiroko." he started. "We are heading to the beach and we're here to fetch her."

"Oh… Gomen ne, kids, but I don't think she could come along with you." said Mrs Gouhara apologetically.

Kogure remained silent while his friends went, "Eh! Why!"

"Because…" Mrs Gouhara looked uncomfortable. "Well, she can't."

"Why?" asked Miyagi.

"Err…" began Mrs Gouhara when her husband came to the door and said, "My daughter is sick. She can't go to the beach with you."

"She looked fine when we saw her yesterday." argued Mitsui.

"It's different, she has a hole in her heart, she can't go to such places like you people. She will suffer under the heat." said Mr Gouhara.

"Not unless we take care of her. We won't let her to do anything that's too tough for her." said Sakuragi.

"_Keep going, guys_." encouraged Hiroko.

"No." said Mr Gouhara firmly.

Hiroko bit her lip in desperation.

Kogure took a deep breath and said calmly, "Gouhara-san, I understand why you don't want your daughter to go to the beach with us. It's hot and we play games under the sun, which is very tiring. You are afraid that she might collapse, right?"

"That's right." said Mr Gouhara.

"But we won't let her. We promise that we take good care for her, right guys?" asked Kogure and his friends nodded.

Akagi, who was the tallest among all of Kogure's friends, came forward and said, "Besides, we met up together in school and came all the way here to fetch her. You don't want us to waste our time and effort, don't you?"

Akagi was so tall and burly that the Gouharas felt rather scared under his presence. They became silent.

Akagi leaned forward to the couple. "Well?"

"Please, Obasan, Ojiisan." said Kogure's friends. Ayako and Haruko tried hard to look as if they were going to cry.

Mr Gouhara thought for a while before he said, "All right. Hiroko could go with you."

Kogure's friends cheered. So did Hiroko in her bedroom, but she did it silently so that her parents couldn't hear her.

"But!" said Mr Gouhara.

Kogure's friends quieted.

"I will be coming along too." said Mr Gouhara.

Kogure and his friends' eyes widened in shock.

"It's my daughter's first outing to the beach and I want to make sure that she's safe." said Mr Gouhara.

"But Shujin," said Mrs Gouhara to her husband. "This boy has promised that he and his friends will take care of her." she said and smiled at Kogure.

"I don't care." snapped Mr Gouhara. "Get Hiroko to pack her things. I will go and get my stuff."

He turned away from his wife and headed for upstairs.

* * *

"Why does that old man have to come with us?" complained Sakuragi as he and his friends waited outside for Hiroko and her father.

"Gomen, that is definitely not in our plan." said Kogure. "I thought if we all persuade Hiroko's parents hard enough, we might convince them to let her to go with us."

"It's not your fault, Kogure." said Akagi.

"That old man sure is going to spoil our day." said Mitsui.

"Don't say that, maybe he's fun to go out with." said Haruko hopefully.

"I doubt it." said Miyagi.

The door opened and Hiroko and her father came out. Hiroko was wearing a pretty yellow dress and a wide-brimmed hat. She was carrying her bag.

"_K-kawaii…_" thought Kogure as he looked at Hiroko.

Mr Gouhara took Hiroko's bag and tossed it to Mitsui. "Boy, you carry my daughter's bag. I don't want her to tire herself out."

"Otousan, I can carry the bag by myself." said Hiroko in protest.

"No, it's too heavy for you. Let that boy carry it for you." said her father.

Mitsui sulked but didn't say anything.

"Come on, we have no time to lose. Let's catch the bus before it's too late." he ordered and led the way, with Kogure's friends walking behind him unwillingly.

"Gomen ne, Kogure. I didn't expect Otousan would tag along." whispered Hiroko to Kogure.

Kogure said, "It's okay."

"But I'm glad that I'm able to get out of the house. I believe that it's going to be a fine day." said Hiroko happily.

Kogure smiled. Suddenly he didn't care whether Mr Gouhara would spoil their day. As far as he's concerned, if Hiroko was happy, he's happy too.


	5. At the Beach

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Chapter 5: At the Beach

"We're here!" cried Sakuragi as he and his friends got to the beach.

"Here, let me help." said Miyagi eagerly to Ayako as she carried the cooler.

"Arigato," said Ayako, smiling.

They chose a shady spot at the beach and Mitsui finally put down his and Hiroko's bag.

"Sumimasen, Mitsui-san, I know it's not your job to carry my bag…" said Hiroko apologetically.

"Daijoubu." said Mitsui, trying to smile and ignore his sore shoulders. "By the way, just call me Mitsui."

"Oi, Boy, quit talking to my daughter and come and help us to unload the things." barked Mr Gouhara.

"You call me 'boy' one more time…." said Mitsui, scowling.

"Mitsui, just go." said Hiroko quickly.

* * *

The boys unloaded the things they needed for the outing, with Mr Gouhara giving instructions. 

"Why do we have to listen to that old man?" complained Sakuragi as he and Kogure put up the beach umbrella.

"We have to. If we don't, he might get mad and forbidden Hiroko to go out with us." said Kogure patiently.

"With you, you mean." teased Sakuragi.

Kogure decided to ignore him.

* * *

"Come on guys, let's play a game of volleyball!" announced Ayako. 

"Yeah!" said her friends and got up.

"Come on, Hiroko!" said Haruko cheerfully and joined the rest.

Hiroko was about to get up too when her father stopped her. "Hiroko, what are you doing?"

"Joining my friends." said Hiroko.

"They are playing volleyball, Hiroko. You know you can't join them to play such tiring sport."

"But, Otousan…" started Hiroko in protest.

"Stay here, Hiroko." ordered her father.

Hiroko frowned, but didn't say anything. She sat down unwillingly.

"Oi, Hiroko-san, don't just sit there, come and join us!" called Mitsui.

"Baka! Don't you know that she can't join you?" yelled Mr Gouhara back.

Mitsui glared at Mr Gouhara, then he turned and said to the rest, "Let's form our teams, Ayako will be the referee."

As Kogure formed a team with his friends, he kept on looking at Hiroko, who looked extremely lonely.

Somehow he felt that it was a big mistake to let Hiroko to come to the beach. It didn't make her happy, in fact, it made her a lot miserable. She's probably better off staying at home.

* * *

Hiroko watched as Kogure and his friends played. They had formed two teams, Sakuragi and his team were on the left and Kogure and his team were on the right. 

"Hit it, hit it, Sakuragi!" yelled Miyagi.

Sakuragi jumped up high in front of the net and hit the volleyball with all his might. The ball flew back to Kogure's side and dived deep into the sand before Kogure and his team could catch it.

"Yoshi!" cried Sakuragi in victory.

"Sakuragi's team, 10, Kogure's team, 9." announced Ayako.

Kogure's team started the next round. Miyagi easily hit the ball back to their opponent's side. Mitsui (Kogure's team) slammed the ball back before he hit the sand. Then he got up, brushing the sand off his arm.

"See that, Hiroko? What an untidy activity." said Mr Gouhara.

Hiroko didn't say anything. She knew that she would rather get herself dirty and happy from playing with others, then clean and miserable from sitting aside and watching others play.

* * *

After the game, the youngsters decided to take a rest. Some of them lay on the sand with their eyes close while the rest took food out of the baskets and started eating. 

Mr Gouhara opened his bag and took out two bottles of medicine and a neatly pack lunch box. "Here, Hiroko."

Hiroko tried not to groan. She just wished that her father would forget about her medicine for a day. She took the bottles unwillingly and received the bottle of water from her father. She looked at her friends eating their delicious food before opening her lunch box.

It was a box of salad, with green vegetables and carrots, not the kind of food you usually eat at the beach picnic.

* * *

"Poor Hiroko, she just can't have a day of fun." remarked Ayako as she munched on her hot dog. 

Miyagi nodded in agreement as he ate.

Ayako suddenly laughed.

"Nani?" asked Miyagi, bewildered.

"You have oil stains on your cheek." said Ayako, taking out a piece of tissue and handed it to Miyagi.

Miyagi blushed and took it. "A-Arigato…"

* * *

Sakuragi saw what had happened between Miyagi and Ayako. He smiled and put his arm around Kogure's shoulders. "Oi, Megane-kun. You better hurry up and confess your love to Hiroko-san. Otherwise Ryo-chin will be the first one in our team to have a girlfriend." 

"You talk as if it is very easy." said Kogure, embarrassed.

"It is, for me." said Sakuragi, lifting his chin up.

"Then why don't you confess to Haruko then?" challenged Kogure.

(Sakuragi sweatdrops)

"I… will go and get a drink." said Sakuragi, trying not to show his embarrassment and ran off.

"I win." thought Kogure, smiling.

* * *

After lunch, everyone did their own stuff. Most of them just lay under the sun. Akagi, Mitsui, Sakuragi and Miyagi lay together in a row like corpses with their sunglasses over their eyes. Ayako and Haruko were preparing the food for the barbecue in the evening. Kogure decided to help the girls. 

"We can handle this, Kogure sempai. Just go and get a suntan or something." said Ayako.

"I'm not interested in getting a suntan." said Kogure cheerfully and continued to help.

"That boy should let the girls to do the work." said Mr Gouhara.

"Kogure is being helpful." said Hiroko defensively.

Her father snorted and got up.

"Where are you going?" asked Hiroko.

"Back to the bungalow. I'm going to take a nap there." said Mr Gouhara. "Don't do anything that tires you out while I'm gone, Hiroko."

"Hai, Otousan." said Hiroko.

A few minutes after Mr Gouhara was gone, Ayako and Haruko finished their job and rushed to Hiroko, handing her a plate full of food similar to what they ate just now.

"Here, Hiroko-san. We save this plate especially for you." said Ayako.

"Ah… Arigato." said Hiroko and took the plate gratefully.

"I don't think we have properly introduced ourselves yet. I'm Ayako, she's Haruko." Ayako pointed at the boys at the beach. "I think you already know about our basketball team members, so there's no need to introduce them. By the way, you have to try Haruko's sushi, they are the best." said Ayako and Haruko giggled.

Hiroko smiled at them. "Arigato, I didn't eat much just now, to be honest. I'm sick of eating vegetables for every meal."

Ayako made a face of disgust.

"Ne, Hiroko-san…" started Haruko.

"Just call me Hiroko." said Hiroko kindly.

"Ok. Hiroko, how did you meet Kogure anyway?" asked Haruko.

Hiroko blushed slightly. "He was hit by my tennis ball. I just played for fun and the ball hit his head as he was rushing by."

Ayako laughed loudly. "That's one odd meeting."

* * *

Sitting down under the shade, Kogure opened a book and was about to read when he saw the three girls chatting away merrily. He looked at Hiroko, who was smiling and eating happily as she listened to Haruko and Ayako. For the first time of the day, Kogure thought she looked relaxed. 

"_Maybe it isn't so bad for Hiroko to come along with us after all._" thought Kogure, smiling.


	6. Night

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Chapter 6: Night

Night came and everyone retired to Ayako's uncle's bungalow after they finished their barbeque. Some went for a bath, others just relaxed in front of the TV, watching a movie.

"What are all of you watching?" asked Mr Gouhara.

"A comedy, Ojiisan." replied Sakuragi, his mouth full with chips.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." snapped Mr Gouhara. "I want to watch the news."

"But…" started Kogure.

Without another word, Mr Gouhara switched the comedy to a news channel.

"Oi! We were watching that!" cried Mitsui in protest.

"What's the use of watching a comedy?" asked Mr Gouhara. "Watching the news is much better."

"Ayako, you are practically the owner of this place, tell that old man to stop bossing us around." whispered Miyagi to Ayako.

"I can't, he's older than us after all." whispered Ayako back.

Everyone sat for a moment as they watched the news. Sakuragi suddenly got up.

"Where are you going, boy?" asked Mr Gouhara.

Sakuragi bounced the basketball once on the floor. "Play basketball. Is that forbidden too?"

Mr Gouhara looked disapproving, but he didn't say anything.

"Ayako, lend me your uncle's basketball court for a few hours." said Sakuragi to Ayako.

"Go ahead." said Ayako.

"Oi, Hanamichi, wait for me!" said Miyagi, getting up to follow Sakuragi.

"I'm going too." said Mitsui coolly as he got up.

Soon, almost all the boys left to play basketball, only Kogure, Mr Gouhara and the girls stayed behind.

"Boy, why didn't you go and join your friends?" asked Mr Gouhara to Kogure.

Kogure opened his mouth to speak.

"You will look stronger if you exercise more." added Mr Gouhara.

"Otousan!" said Hiroko in horror.

Kogure got up.

"Kogure…." started Hiroko anxiously. She couldn't read his expression clearly. Was he going to argue with her father or…

"I'm going out." said Kogure calmly and he did.

"That's it. And don't come back until you are sweaty from exercise." called Mr Gouhara.

"Otousan!" cried Hiroko.

"Nani?" asked Mr Gouhara.

"You have gone too far this time." said Hiroko. "This is not our house, you know."

"I'm just stating a fact." said Mr Gouhara simply.

Hiroko stared at her father in annoyance before she walked out.

"Oi, Hiroko, where are you going?" asked Mr Gouhara.

"I need some fresh air." said Hiroko.

"Don't go anywhere unsafe, and don't go and watch the boys play!" called her father.

Hiroko didn't bother to respond.

* * *

"Yoshi, three points!" yelled Mitsui as the basketball went through the hoop. He then turned to give Akagi a high-five. 

Miyagi kicked Sakuragi's butt, literally.

"Baka, who ask you to pass the ball to him?" he demanded.

"I didn't mean it, all right?" replied Sakuragi, irritated.

Smiling at his friends, Kogure continued to stroll his way to the deserted beach. He then stopped right in front of the sea and breathed in the salty sea air. He lay down, with his hands behind his head.

He closed his eyes, listening to the waves and occasionally, his team mates' yells of victory nearby as they sent the ball through the basket time after time.

To be honest, he had enough of Mr Gouhara's attitude too. He acted as if he's in charge of the place and the worst thing was that he wouldn't let Hiroko to do anything she wanted…

Kogure heard footsteps on the sand and he got up. To his surprise, it's Hiroko.

"Hiroko? What are you doing here?" asked Kogure.

"I was mad at Otousan." said Hiroko simply. "May I sit down?"

"Douzo." said Kogure, smiling.

Hiroko sat down beside Kogure. "Gomen ne, I know Otousan is being unreasonable. He shouldn't order all of you around like that."

"I know he cares about you." said Kogure truthfully. "But I have to say that he's overprotective."

Hiroko nodded. "Maybe he will relax a little if I don't have this condition."

"How could you stand him, anyway?" asked Kogure.

Hiroko shrugged helplessly. "He is my father after all…"

"AHH!" yelled a voice.

Kogure and Hiroko turned around. From a distance, they could see Mitsui was yelling in horror while Sakuragi had the ball in his hands.

"Looks like Sakuragi did a rebound." said Kogure happily.

"You have some very interesting friends." commented Hiroko.

"By the way, what did they say to you in the library?" asked Kogure.

"Eh? Err…" started Hiroko.

Kogure noticed Hiroko looked very uncomfortable. "You don't have to say if you don't want to." he said kindly.

Hiroko sighed in relief. She looked at the night sky, which was filled with stars. "It's beautiful. I have never seen so many stars in one place in my entire life.

Kogure nodded. "It is."

"Even my cousin won't dare to bring me here, because Otousan doesn't let him."

"That's too bad."

Silence followed between Kogure and Hiroko.

"Arigato, Kogure." said Hiroko suddenly.

"Eh?" asked Kogure. "Doushite?"

"For asking me to come along with your friends. Otousan may have sort of spoiled my day, but so far I have made a lot of friends such as Ayako, Haruko and Mitsui. I now even have a chance to watch the night sky. So it's not a total loss."

She smiled at him. Kogure blushed slightly and grinned. "Oh well, as long as you are happy…"

He returned to admire the night sky. They remained silent. Soon, the voices at the basketball court ceased.

It was a very long time before Kogure felt something on his shoulder. He turned his head slightly and found Hiroko asleep, with her head on his shoulder.

Embarrassed, Kogure wanted to wake her up, but decided not to. He didn't want to disrupt her sleep. So the two remained there, with Hiroko asleep and Kogure staring out at the sky.

* * *

A few hours later, Kogure yawned and looked at his watch. 1am. He and Hiroko should get back to the house. 

He gently slapped Hiroko's cheek. "Hiroko, wake up."

Hiroko didn't wake up, she continued to sleep. Kogure tried again but he couldn't wake her up.

"Oh my, not even Rukawa sleeps like that." thought Kogure. He swallowed nervously. Looks like there's only one way to do.

Gently, Kogure turned and lifted Hiroko up in his arms. "Come on, Hiroko, let's go back." he whispered.

Sleepily, Hiroko wrapped her arms around Kogure and let him carried her back.

* * *

When Kogure got back into the bungalow, he found the boys sleeping all over the place. Sakuragi was sleeping with his head on the basketball and arms on the floor. Miyagi was snoring and had his head on Sakuragi's back. Mitsui had the whole sofa to himself. Akagi was sleeping on the floor. The girls had probably gone upstairs to sleep. 

Carefully not to step on any one of his friends, Kogure made his way across the room and went upstairs. He found an empty room and went in.

Kogure put Hiroko down on the bed gently and tucked her in. Smiling at her innocent face, Kogure whispered, "Oyasumi."

He then left. Kogure looked around for other empty rooms, but it seemed like the upstairs rooms were occupied by the girls and Mr Gouhara.

So he went downstairs and tried to find a place to sleep. Finally he found an unoccupied armchair. Kogure sat on the armchair with his legs over the armrest. Then he closed his eyes. In less than a minute, he fell asleep.


	7. A Date, At Last!

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Chapter 7: A Date, At Last!

Kogure barely slept for 5 hours when suddenly…

Whack.

"Ah!" Kogure woke up and found Mr Gouhara glaring at him, with a roll of newspaper in his hand. "Wake up, boy, it's already 6am!"

Sleepily, Kogure struggled to get up while Mr Gouhara went and slapped Mitsui directly on his head.

"Itai!" cried Mitsui as he woke up. "Nandayo!"

Mr Gouhara moved on and kicked the basketball away from Sakuragi. As a result, Sakuragi's head fell and hit directly on the floor.

"Itai!" Sakuragi got up and rubbed his forehead.

Soon, all the boys woke up and Mr Gouhara yelled, "Get up everyone! It's time for exercise!"

"What exercise?" demanded Mitsui.

"Morning exercise. Don't you boys do it at home?" asked Mr Gouhara.

"Only when there's a basketball match on that day." said Sakuragi as he yawned. Miyagi fell asleep and was now leaning on Sakuragi for support.

Mr Gouhara glared at Miyagi, went over to him and gave him a slap on the head with the newspaper.

"Ah!" cried Miyagi.

"Then I will teach you boys to make it as your habit!" barked Mr Gouhara. "Now go and run six rounds around the area!"

"Make us." said Mitsui darkly, glaring at Mr Gouhara.

"Mitsui, don't…" started Kogure.

Mr Gouhara glared back at Mitsui. "Or there will be no breakfast for you."

"Then I will eat at home." snapped Mitsui, folding his arms. "You can't make me to do what I dislike."

Seeing that a fight was going to begin, Kogure quickly said to Mitsui, "Mitsui, you can't go hungry throughout the whole morning."

"Of course I can. After seeing this bear, I probably won't have the appetite anyway." said Mitsui.

Mr Gouhara scowled at the term that Mitsui gave him. Sakuragi and Miyagi stifled their laughter.

"But…" started Kogure.

Mitsui sat down on the sofa and closed his eyes. "I'm not running and that's that. I'm here for a break, not to attend an army camp."

Sakuragi sat down as well. "I'm with Mitsui."

Miyagi followed. "Me too."

Kogure looked at Akagi for help, but he sat down as well.

"Fine, then all of you can forget about your breakfast!" said Mr Gouhara.

Kogure looked at his team mates desperately. Then he sighed and turned Mr Gouhara. "Gouhara-san, if my friends don't run, let me take their places. Just let them have their breakfast."

Mitsui's eyes snapped open and he looked at Kogure.

"Oh?" said Mr Gouhara.

"That means I will run 30 rounds around the area." said Kogure.

Kogure's friends looked at him in shock.

Mr Gouhara shrugged. "If you are stupid enough to willing to take their places, go ahead."

"I just don't want my friends to go hungry." said Kogure and went out of the house.

"Kogure, chotto!" cried Mitsui. He got up and cursed. "Aho…"

* * *

Kogure didn't realise that it would take him a long time to complete a round around the area. It would probably be late afternoon by the time he finished the 30 rounds…

"Oi, Megane-kun, chotto matte!" yelled a voice.

Kogure turned around and saw Sakuragi, Miyagi, Mitsui and Akagi, all running towards him. "What are you all doing?" asked Kogure, puzzled.

"Baka, accompanying you of course." said Sakuragi, grinning.

"We can skip our breakfast but we just can't sit back and watch you do our rounds." said Miyagi.

"It would be unfair." said Mitsui, ruffling Kogure's hair in a brotherly way.

"But your knee…" started Kogure.

"I got my knee protection bandage on." said Mitsui, showing Kogure his left knee.

"We will just do our six rounds, together." said Akagi.

Kogure smiled and nodded.

"Yoshi, let's go!" yelled Akagi.

"Hai!" said the boys together and they set off together.

* * *

By the time they got back to the bungalow, it was already 7.30am and they were all dead beat. They all sat down in the living room tiredly.

"Breakfast is served!" called Ayako in the kitchen.

The boys looked at each other and they went to the kitchen. They found breakfast was prepared for everyone.

"Why are you boys standing there? Sit down." ordered Mr Gouhara.

"Er, hai." said Akagi and motioned the boys to sit down.

"Where have you guys been?" asked Haruko.

"I send them for a morning run." said Mr Gouhara. "6 rounds."

"Otousan, you can't do that to my friends!" said Hiroko in horror.

"Of course I can, it's for their own good." snapped Mr Gouhara.

"Well, it's good for our health anyway, let's eat." said Kogure quickly as Hiroko opened her mouth angrily.

"Itadakimasu." said everyone and they started eating.

Kogure was relived that Hiroko didn't start an argument with her father. He couldn't wait for breakfast to be over, then he and his friends could go home and had a good rest.

* * *

"Arigato, minnasan, I had a good time." said Hiroko politely when everyone alighted at the bus station.

Kogure and his friends smiled at her.

"Ne, can we call you up for a chat sometime?" asked Haruko.

"Ayako and Haruko can call her, but the boys can't." said Mr Gouhara before Hiroko opened her mouth.

"We're not asking you, old man." muttered Sakuragi.

"Ja ne!" said Hiroko and she and her father left.

* * *

Kogure finally got home and the first thing he did was to lie down on his bed and sleep. So he did, and he didn't wake up until 3pm in the afternoon.

"Konnichiwa, Kiminobu." greeted his mother as Kogure came yawning into the living room.

"Konnichiwa…" said Kogure and sat down on the sofa.

"Want anything to eat?" asked his mother.

Kogure shook his head and flipped open a sports magazine that was lying on the table. Then he found an advertisement featuring a parade and new rides at the amusement park.

"_A parade? Hey, maybe Hiroko wants to go… but it is the amusement park…_" thought Kogure, frowning.

Kogure would love to ask Hiroko out, but he knew that her parents wouldn't let her to go to the amusement park…

It took Kogure a very long time to decide to call Hiroko and ask her out. Who knows, maybe her parents would let her go…

* * *

"It's just an outing, call her like you call any of your friends…" said Kogure to himself as he stared at the phone.

Mrs Kogure looked at her son from the kitchen, wondering why was he standing in front of the phone and not moving at all.

Kogure hesitated before he reached for the phone. Holding the phone to his ear, Kogure took out his phone book and flipped to Hiroko's number. Taking a deep breath, he dialled the number.

Kogure swallowed nervously, his heart beating faster than usual.

Click.

"Hai, Gouhara residence." said a male voice.

Kogure sucked in his breath sharply, it was Hiroko's father! Mr Gouhara wouldn't let Hiroko to come to the phone if he knew it was him who was calling!

"Moshi moshi?" said Mr Gouhara impatiently.

Kogure thought fast and got an idea. This was embarrassing, but he had no choice. Quickly, he said in a high-pitched voice, "Eh, is Hiroko home?"

"Are you a friend of hers?" asked Mr Gouhara.

"Hai," answered Kogure in his high-pitched voice. "My name is…" Kogure needed to come up with a female name. Then he remembered his own name: Kiminobu. "…Kimiko." he ended.

Mrs Kogure paled. Why was her son talking to the phone in such a girlish manner?

"Chotto matte." said Mr Gouhara and called, "Hiroko, phone! It's Kimiko!"

Then Kogure heard Hiroko's voice in the background, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

"My daughter says she doesn't know anyone named Kimiko." said Mr Gouhara suspiciously.

Kogure panicked. How was he going to let Hiroko know that it was him? Quickly, he said in his disguised voice: "B-but she has to know! I'm Kimiko Kogure, Kiminobu's sister, my brother must have told her about me!"

It was silence at the other end before Mr Gouhara said, "Chotto matte, I will try again to get her to answer it."

Kogure sighed in relief and caught his mother staring at him in horror. Covering the mouthpiece, Kogure laughed nervously as if nothing was wrong.

"Hai," said Hiroko uncertainly from the other end. "Hiroko here."

"Ah!" said Kogure in his normal voice. "Hiroko, it's me, Kogure."

"Ah…" said Hiroko, sounding pleased. "Chotto matte."

Kogure heard a door being opened and closed at the other end and Hiroko saying: "Okay… you can talk now."

"Did you have a good rest?" asked Kogure, relaxed, now that he could talk to Hiroko freely.

"Arigato, I did. You?"

"Sure did."

"I didn't know you have a sister."

Kogure blushed. "T-that isn't my sister. In fact, I don't even have one. I just disguised my voice so that your father would let you come to the phone to talk to me…"

Silence.

Suddenly, Hiroko laughed. Her laughter made Kogure's cheeks burnt with embarrassment.

"Oh my… Gomen ne, I didn't mean to laugh. Just that…" she continued to laugh.

"I have no choice!" said Kogure in protest. "Your father won't let any boy except your cousin to call you."

"T-that's true." said Hiroko, still giggling.

But then Kogure thought for a while, the conversation just now with Mr Gouhara was pretty funny. Soon, he was laughing as well.

"…so what are you calling me for?" asked Hiroko after she had controlled herself.

Kogure paused before he said, "Ano… um, I-I'm c-calling to ask you…"

He swallowed before he continued. "… if you are free next Saturday…" he whispered.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that." said Hiroko.

Kogure cleared his throat. "I'm calling to ask you whether you are free to go out with me to the amusement park next Saturday…"

"The amusement park!" exclaimed Hiroko loudly and then she dropped the volume of her voice to a whisper, as if she's afraid that her parents would hear her, "I love to!"

"But what about your parents?" asked Kogure.

"I will think of something to convince them to let me go. What time should we meet?"

Kogure just couldn't say how happy he felt that Hiroko said yes. "Well, there's a parade at night…."

"Then I will meet you in the afternoon, is it okay?" asked Hiroko excitedly.

"Afternoon?" asked Kogure.

"I want to spend the whole day there." explained Hiroko. "This will be my first trip to the amusement park, please?"

Kogure thought for a while. "As long as you can convince your parents to let you go, then I guess it's okay."

"I will think of something." said Hiroko.

"Then I will see you at 3pm, okay?" asked Kogure.

"Hm!" said Hiroko in agreement. "Don't you forget!"

"Of course I won't." said Kogure, laughing. "I will see you then."

"Ja." said Hiroko and paused. "Kimiko." she teased and giggled.

Kogure smiled. "Well, next time your parents tell you that it's Kimiko who's calling, you will know that it's me."

"All right, I will keep that in mind. Ja." said Hiroko.

"Ja." said Kogure and he put down the phone. Once he did, he grinned and jumped around, "Yes, whoo hoo!"

Mrs Kogure looked at her son's crazy actions and shook her head. "Must have studied too much."


	8. First Date

Chap 8: First Date

"Ne, Otousan…" started Hiroko at dinner on Friday.

"Hm?" asked Mr Gouhara as he ate.

"Can I go out with my friend tomorrow?" asked Hiroko timidly.

"With who?" asked Mr Gouhara.

"With Kimiko. She asked me to go the parade at the amusement park with her at night…"

"Amusement park?" said Mr Gouhara with a disapproval look. "You know how I feel about you going to the amusement park."

"But Otousan, I'm not going to the rides in the amusement park, I'm just going to the parade." said Hiroko.

Mr Gouhara didn't say anything.

"I will just go to Kimiko's house to study in the daytime, then we will go to the amusement park at night. So can I go? Please?" pleaded Hiroko.

"Shujin, just let her go. A parade won't do any harm to her health." said Mrs Gouhara.

Mr Gouhara gave Hiroko a long stare before he returned to his meal. "All right, just don't come home late."

"Arigato, Otousan!" said Hiroko happily and got up. "I'm finished with my dinner!"

"By the way, Hiroko…" started her father.

"Eh?" asked Hiroko.

"What's wrong with your friend's voice? She sounds weird."

* * *

Saturday

Kogure was at home, getting ready for the day. Humming slightly, he checked with his appearance in the bathroom. He looked smart in his blue-checker shirt and white slacks, the problem was his messy black hair…

Frowning, he combed his hair, trying to make it tidy. But after a while, he gave up. He looked at his watch and hurried off.

* * *

When Kogure arrived to the entrance of the amusement park, he found that Hiroko had not arrived yet. So he decided to wait for her. Hiroko arrived a while later, wearing a pale blue dress, with a backpack over her shoulder.

"Gomen, I spent a little too much time to prepare… have you waited for a long time?" asked Hiroko.

Kogure smiled. "Iie, I have just arrived. What's with the backpack?"

"I told my parents that I would be studying in Kimiko's house until nightfalls, then we will go to the parade."

Kogure smiled. Trust Hiroko to come up with a way to convince her parents to let her out.

Hiroko looked at the amusement park in awe, there were people screaming from their seats in the thrilling rides every few minutes. Kids running around happily with balloons in their hands. Couples walked around, hand in hand.

"My… this place sure looks exciting." said Hiroko finally and she turned to Kogure. "Come on, let's go!"

She dragged Kogure excitedly into the park.

* * *

Kogure and Hiroko chose their rides carefully because Hiroko couldn't take rides that would tire her heart out. So the first ride they took was the Ferris Wheel and they had a marvellous time, looking down at the scenery below. Kogure had taken the Ferris Wheel a lot of times, but it was Hiroko's first time to sit in the Ferris Wheel and she's thrilled. So it was no surprise that she wanted to go for a second round when she got off the ride. Being a good sport, Kogure just went along with her.

Hiroko was having the best time of her life. She tried all the rides (except those thrilling rides) and she didn't get tired of them. She and Kogure even went to water rides twice, even though they had drenched themselves wet on the first round.

At the Merry-Go-Round, Hiroko went and took a seat on a lovely wooden unicorn, while Kogure took a white horse behind her.

"I always want to ride on this ever since I was a kid." said Hiroko happily to Kogure.

"Okaasan, I want to ride the Merry-Go-Round!" cried a voice.

Hiroko and Kogure looked out and saw a kid around 4 years old, crying to her mother. She was tugging at her mother's dress.

"But Mizuki, the ride is filled. And it's getting late, let's just go home, okay?" said the girl's mother.

Mizuki cried. "But I waited a long time for the ride! Okaasan, you promised that I could ride it if I'm good today!"

"Sumimasen," called Hiroko. "But the girl could take my seat if she wants."

Mizuki and her mother blinked at Hiroko in surprise.

"Hiroko…" started Kogure.

Hiroko smiled at him. Mizuki's mother finally said, "No, we couldn't…"

"Please, I insist." said Hiroko and got off her seat. She approached the girl and wiped away her tears. "You can take my seat. I can take the next ride."

"Arigato!" said the girl happily and went to take Hiroko's seat.

Kogure thought for a while before he got off the horse as well. "Obasan, I think you should take my seat too. To watch over your kid."

"But…" said the mother.

"Okaasan, come on!" said Mizuki.

"Go on." said Kogure.

"Arigato." said the mother and she went to take Kogure's seat.

"Why did you let the girl to take your seat?" asked Kogure curiously as the ride started. "You have waited for a long time for a chance to have the ride."

Hiroko smiled at Kogure. "I just don't want to see the girl to be upset. Why did you give up your seat?"

Kogure smiled. "I just think the mother should accompany her daughter."

* * *

Night came and the parade had begun. Kogure and Hiroko managed to make their way to the front of the crowd and watched as a group of beautiful dancers danced past them.

"It's beautiful." said Hiroko as she watched in amazement at a group of girls dressed up as princesses went past on a float.

Kogure looked at Hiroko, she was smiling in delight and seemed glad to be a part of all this excitement. His eyes travelled down to her hand, which was at her side.

For a moment, Kogure was tempted to hold her delicate hand but then he resisted, because he and Hiroko were only good friends, he didn't want to rush into things… but it was awfully tempting, her hand was just within his reach…

"_Oh just take it already, if she doesn't like it, fine!_" said his mind.

Kogure wiped his sweaty palms on his slacks. Then he kept his eyes on the parade, but his hand was inching towards to Hiroko's direction.

Finally, he touched her hand and wrapped his fingers around it. Kogure's heart beat wildly as he found that Hiroko didn't put up any resistance. Does that mean she accept him?

Blushing and smiling happily, Kogure finally took his eyes away from the parade and turned to look at Hiroko.

Then his smile faded and he went pale. He was looking at a fat and ugly woman, who gazed back at him lovingly.

"What's your name, Seinin?" she asked with affection. "Oh, I didn't know I could still attach such a good-looking young lad, that's means I'm still beautiful!"

Laughing nervously, Kogure let go of the woman's hand quickly and backed away. "Gomen ne, Obasan…" he started.

"Nani? Obasan!" said the woman, offended. "I'm only 32! How old are you?" she asked, battling her eyelashes and she held onto Kogure's hand again.

Kogure swallowed. "Err..." he stammered.

"Sumimasen, but would you mind letting go of my husband?" said a voice.

Kogure and the woman looked at the direction of the voice and found Hiroko, looking darkly at the two.

The woman let go of Kogure's hand. "Ah, so you are already married." she said in disappointment.

"A-ah, hai." lied Kogure.

"Then don't go and hold other people's hand." said the woman and she went off, her head up high.

Kogure wiped his hand frantically on his shirt, as if the woman's hand had germs on it. Then he looked at Hiroko, who was laughing hysterically.

"Stop laughing!" said Kogure, embarrassed. "Where have you been anyway?"

"I-I have been here all this while. I think that obasan just came between us when we didn't notice." said Hiroko, still trying to control herself.

"_What a good timing._" thought Kogure sarcastically.

Hiroko stopped laughing. She smiled at him sweetly and her attention returned to the parade.

Kogure's cheeks went pink and for a moment, he didn't know what to do next. Slowly, he took Hiroko's hand and held it. Hiroko just tightened the grip and moved closer to Kogure in response.

There's no doubt about it, the two were definitely in love.

* * *

Holding hands, Kogure and Hiroko walked home together.

"Arigato, I will just walk home by myself from here." said Hiroko before they turned around the corner to her home. "I don't want Otousan to see you holding my hand."

"Or he will kill me?" asked Kogure uncertainly.

Hiroko nodded solemnly. "Otousan practices kendo, he may whack you with a wooden sword for holding my hand."

Kogure paled.

Hiroko giggled. "But he won't know as long as you and I keep our relationship as a secret."

Kogure sighed in relief. "Right."

"Well then, oyasumi." said Hiroko. "Kiminobu."

"Oyasumi, Hiroko." said Kogure, pleased that Hiroko called him 'Kiminobu'.

Hiroko left. Kogure stood at his place for a moment before he walked off, grinning to himself as he went.


	9. 1 boy, 1 girl and 3 gooseberries

Thank you for reading/reviewing!

Chapter 9: 1 boy, 1 girl and … 3 gooseberries

2 weeks had passed. Shohoku had won Kirameki easily by 60 points and it's time for another rest for the basketball team before they went and practiced harder for their next competitor, which was Apollo Collage.

September came and Hiroko's birthday was approaching. Kogure had asked her out to celebrate on Sunday and he still hadn't decided what to buy for her birthday. He wanted to ask Haruko for advice, but knowing Haruko, she would probably tell Akagi about it before he could stop her. Kogure didn't want that.

He wanted to ask Ayako too, but everytime he tried to talk to her in school, Miyagi would be somewhere nearby and if he hears about it, he would tell Sakuragi and Mitsui and the three of them would make his life miserable.

* * *

On Saturday, Kogure finally decided to go shopping by himself. He walked on the streets and stared at the items on display. Hiroko seemed to be too old for dolls and teddy bears. Perfume and flowers were not her type and even if they were, Kogure didn't have the money to buy them. 

He strolled past the shops and finally he found something that caught his eye. He stared at it and smiled. "This is it!"

* * *

Sunday 

"Darn this stupid weather." cursed Sakuragi as he fanned himself. "And I thought the weather will be cooler now since autumn is coming."

Sakuragi, Mitsui and Miyagi walked on the streets in their casual clothes. Miyagi was playing with the basketball in his hands. Mitsui was drinking a can of Pepsi. The three of them were covered with sweat.

"Just go into some café and cool ourselves with the air-con." said Miyagi.

"It's not fun to play basketball with just the three of us," complained Mitsui. "I just wish that Akagi is free. Too bad he and Haruko have gone for a family visit."

"And Kogure?" asked Miyagi.

"He says he's busy with his studying…"

Suddenly Sakuragi noticed someone and his mouth dropped. He slapped Miyagi on the chest to get his attention. "Oi, look who it is!"

Miyagi turned, so did Mitsui. Their mouths dropped open.

It's Kogure, wearing a striped shirt and jeans. He had a bag across his shoulder. He was walking towards the shopping street.

"Didn't you just say he's busy?" asked Miyagi.

"He said so!" said Mitsui and frowned. "That brat, how dare he trick me…"

"He looks like he's going for a date or something…" said Miyagi.

Still watching Kogure, the trio slowly grinned. Then they followed Kogure into the shopping street.

* * *

Hiroko stood outside a shop and looked at her watch. She looked cute in her white dress. Then Kogure reached her and smiled. "Gomen, have you waited for a long time?" 

Hiroko smiled. "Iie."

Then her smile faded and she went, "Ah…"

"Nani?" asked Kogure and he turned around.

"Konnichiwa!" yelled his three friends and Kogure went pale. "I-it's your guys! What are you doing here?"

"Oh we are just passing by." said Mitsui airily.

"We have just finished a game." said Sakuragi.

"And we spotted you two here so we just come over and say hello." said Miyagi innocently.

Hiroko smiled again. "Kogure and I are just going out."

"Shouldn't you be calling him Kiminobu?" asked Mitsui, grinning.

Hiroko blushed.

"Where are you two going?" asked Miyagi.

"Err…" started Kogure.

"Actually we going to watch a movie…" said Hiroko slowly.

"A movie!" cried Sakuragi. "Cool, I haven't watched a movie for a long time, let's go together!"

"Yeah, let's!" said Mitsui and Miyagi.

Kogure panicked. If these three tagged along with him and Hiroko, he wouldn't get any peace!

"Well, it's fine with me…" said Hiroko slowly.

So much for a date.

"But we can't go if Kogure disapproves…" said Sakuragi and Kogure's three team mates looked at him with puppy-like eyes.

(Kogure sweatdrops)

"_Oh no, please don't look at me like that…_" thought Kogure but he couldn't resist their 'please-pity-us' look.

Kogure laughed, even though he didn't feel like laughing. "Sure, you three can join us."

* * *

Kogure and Hiroko wanted to watch a romantic comedy, but because of Kogure's three team mates, they ended up watching an action movie instead. 

"Go Dan, shoot him with your device!" yelled Sakuragi during the movie.

"Behind you, behind you!" called Miyagi.

Mitsui laughed at the movie. "Nice somersault!"

Hiroko had the smile on her face throughout the movie. Whether she was being polite or she really like the movie, nobody was sure.

"Ouch!" said the trio when the lead was shot in the arm. The rest of the audience were giving them angry stares, because they were making too much noise.

Kogure groaned and sank deeper into his seat, his hands covering his face in embarrassment.

* * *

"Boy, am I starving, why don't we go and grab a bite?" asked Mitsui after the movie. 

"I know a place where we could get some neat snacks!" said Sakuragi.

"Yoshi, let's go!" said Mitsui and Sakuragi led the way, as if he was the one who was in charge of the outing.

Kogure followed unwillingly.

* * *

"I will go and buy the food. What do you want to eat?" asked Kogure to Hiroko. 

"Just sandwiches will do." said Hiroko, smiling sweetly at Kogure.

"Oi, Kogure, I want chocolate pie!" said Mitsui.

"I want a plate of fries!" said Sakuragi.

"I want pudding!" said Miyagi.

Kogure opened his wallet and stared. He had paid for the five movie tickets and now he had barely enough cash for all of their food…

"But guys, I don't have enough cash with me." said Kogure.

Mitsui frowned. "Why don't you bring extra cash? You should be well-prepared." he lectured while Miyagi and Sakuragi nodded in agreement.

"_It's you three who are playing gooseberry and make a hole in my wallet…_" thought Kogure.

"I will think of something…" said Kogure finally and walked off.

* * *

He came back to their table with the food on the tray. "Here you go, guys." he said tiredly. 

The boys grabbed their food while Hiroko took hers with an "Arigato."

Kogure sat beside Hiroko. Hiroko noticed that the area in front of him was empty. "Eh? Kiminobu, aren't you eating?"

Kogure smiled. "I'm not hungry."

The truth was, he had spent all his money on his friends' food and he didn't have any left for himself.

"Really?" asked Hiroko.

Kogure remained smiling. But then his stomach growled, loudly.

There was a silence between them before Kogure started to laugh uncomfortably.

"Here, at least take one of them." said Hiroko, offering Kogure her sandwich. "Open your mouth."

Smiling back, he leaned forward and opened his mouth playfully. Then his sharp senses told him to look to his left. He turned his head slightly and found Sakuragi, Miyagi and Mitsui staring at him and Hiroko in amusement.

Kogure and Hiroko blushed with embarrassment and quickly, Kogure just took the sandwich with his hand.

"Arigato." he mumbled.

* * *

"Everyone, I'm sorry but it's time for me to go home." said Hiroko. 

"So soon?" asked Mitsui.

Hiroko nodded. Kogure stood up. "I will see you home." he said quickly.

"We will all escort you home!" offered Miyagi, grinning. He and Sakuragi stood up.

Kogure felt like he was going to faint.

"Eh? Kogure? What are you doing here?" asked a voice.

Kogure turned around and smiled slightly. "Hello, Anzai sensei."

"Hiroko, this is my basketball coach, Anzai sensei." he said quickly. "Sensei, this is Hiroko."

Hiroko bowed slightly to Anzai in politeness. "Konnichiwa."

Anzai nodded back. "Konnichiwa."

"The three of us bumped into Kogure and Hiroko this early afternoon and we thought we should join them and have some fun." said Mitsui to Anzai.

Kogure sighed inwardly and looked at Anzai. He looked as if he was thinking.

"Now Hiroko is going back and we want to escort her home." said Sakuragi cheerfully.

"Let Kogure escort Hiroko-san home. I want to talk to you three about our next practice." said Anzai, gently pushing Miyagi and Sakuragi down on their seats.

"Nani? But…"started Miyagi but he shut up when Anzai gave him a look. "Hai."

Sakuragi looked sulky and Mitsui looked disappointed.

Anzai turned to Kogure and Hiroko. "You two just go." he said, waving his hand as if he was dismissing the couple.

"All right then, ja ne." said Hiroko and Kogure waved goodbye to his friends, glad that he could get away from them, with the help of Anzai.

* * *

Hiroko was quiet on her way home. 

"Um… did you have a good time today?" asked Kogure timidly.

Hiroko looked at Kogure and smiled. "It's okay."

"Gomen, I didn't expect my three friends to tag along, they are just too playful…"

Hiroko giggled. "This is the first time I have people to follow me on a date. It's quite amusing when you think of it."

Kogure thought for a while and smiled slowly. "Yeah… it is kind of funny."

Giggling, the couple continued to walk.

"What's in your bag?" asked Hiroko.

"Eh? Oh, this!" said Kogure and he unzipped his bag. "I want to give it to you earlier but, um…"

Taking out the gift, he gave it to Hiroko. "Here, tanjoubi omedetou."

"Ah…" Hiroko sounded pleased. "Arigato. I can't believe that you will remember my birthday."

Happily, Hiroko wrapped her arms around Kogure's arm and leaned onto him as they walked.

Blushing, Kogure smiled. Maybe this date wasn't completely spoiled after all.

* * *

Kogure got home and after he had finished his dinner, the phone rang. He picked it up. "Hai, Kogure residence." 

"Yo Kogure!"

"Hi Mitsui." said Kogure.

"Listen, um, the three of us, Miyagi, Sakuragi and I are sorry about today, we are just having a bit fun, you know, just to tease you. Coach Anzai made us stay back and lectured us about it, said that we have grown up and should stop behaving like kids." said Mitsui, sounding rather embarrassed.

"Anzai… how did he know…"

"That's what amazing about Anzai, he knows everything." said Mitsui in admiration. "But then again, you shouldn't lie to me when I asked you out this morning."

"Gomen. I know you won't let me off if I tell you the truth."

"True. Well, ja ne!"

"Ja." said Kogure and he hung up. He smiled. Things were getting better.

* * *

Hiroko stayed in her room and unwrapped her gift that Kogure gave her. 

"Oh it's beautiful!" she said, holding up a music box with a white unicorn on top. She then put it on her desk and looked at it lovingly from her bed before she fell asleep.


	10. White Christmas

Thank you for readinh/reviewing!

Chapter 10: White Christmas

Christmas was coming and Mitsui, feeling rather generous, invited all of his friends in the basketball team (including Ayako and Haruko) to his house to celebrate Christmas.

"Oi, Kogure, why don't you ask Hiroko-san to come along?" asked Mitsui as he wrote down how many people were going for the party after the basketball practice.

"Do I have to? She doesn't know you very well…" said Kogure slowly.

"Baka, the more the merrier!" said Mitsui impatiently.

Kogure still looked uncertain. He was staring at Mitsui in a suspicious way.

"All right, all right, I promise that I won't tease you and Hiroko at the party, okay?" asked Mitsui, throwing up his hands in defeat.

"All right, I will ask her." said Kogure, smiling and picking up his bag. "Ja ne!"

"But I'm not sure about Sakuragi and Miyagi…" Mitsui muttered after Kogure left.

* * *

December 24th

"Good evening, Merry Christmas!" said Hiroko cheerfully to Mitsui when he opened the door of his beautiful bungalow. "How kind of you to let me come."

Kogure took off his blue scarf and handed it to Mitsui's maid. "Arigato."

"Merry Christmas to you too. And I'm happy that you could come. Let's go to the den, everyone is there." said Mitsui and he led the couple to the den. "Minnasan, look who's here!"

"Ah!" cried Sakuragi and grinned. "It's the couple of the year!"

Miyagi cheered and whistled.

Hiroko blushed and smiled. Kogure looked at Mitsui. "Mitsui…" he growled.

"I promise I won't, but I never say that Sakuragi and Miyagi will stop." said Mitsui in defence.

"Couple? What couple?" asked Ayako with interest.

Kogure sighed inwardly as Miyagi whispered in Ayako's ear. Ayako was a girl after all and it was possible that she was interested in this kind of thing.

"Sit down, just ignore them." said Mitsui, smiling and pulling Kogure and Hiroko down to the floor to sit with the rest.

"Eh? Rukawa? I thought you didn't want to come?" asked Kogure when he spotted the quietest player of the team was there.

Rukawa shrugged. "I was bored at home."

"Why don't you sleep then? That's the only thing you do at home." said Sakuragi.

Rukawa frowned. "Shut up, idiot."

"Wild Fox." replied Sakuragi, scowling.

"Err…" said Kogure frantically, trying to break up the fight which was about to start. "Rukawa, I suppose you haven't met my friend Hiroko Gouhara?"

Rukawa looked at Hiroko coolly and nodded in politeness. "So you are Kogure's girl huh?"

Hiroko blushed furiously while Kogure buried his face in his hands, thinking, "_I should have known better than introducing Hiroko to Rukawa…_"

"Not a bad looking girl." said Rukawa quietly before he returned to drink his Pepsi.

Everyone except Hiroko stared at Rukawa in shock, for he seldom gave a compliment to anyone he came across.

Noticing that almost everyone was staring at him, Rukawa lowered his drink and asked in annoyance, "What?"

Haruko looked at Hiroko in admiration, for she wished that it was her that Rukawa praised.

* * *

"1… 2… 3... Merry Christmas!" yelled everyone (except Rukawa) and they all pulled their crackers over the cake that was provided by Mitsui. Then they blew out the candles together and cut the cake.

As they ate, they started a game called "Unlucky Number". One of them chose a number without telling anyone what it was except the range and all of them would have to guess what number it was. The one who got the number right or the one who got the number last would be punished.

"75." said Kogure.

"1 to 75." said Mitsui, who was choosing the number.

"70." said Rukawa.

"1 to 70."

"50." called Miyagi.

"50 to 70."

"60." said Ayako.

"60 to 70."

"67?" asked Haruko timidly.

Mitsui whistled. "67 to 70."

"69?" asked Akagi.

Mitsui grinned. "You're lucky, Akagi! It's not 69."

"Then that means it's… 68?" asked Sakuragi in panic, who was next.

Mitsui nodded and applauded along with the rest of the people. "Congratulations!"

"What's there to congratulate?" snapped Sakuragi. "Fine, what's my punishment?"

"Go and jump into the pool outside." said Mitsui, grinning evilly.

"Nani! But I will freeze to death!" said Sakuragi in horror.

"Don't worry, just come out straight after you have jumped in." said Mitsui.

"Go Sakuragi. You're so strong, nothing will happen to you." said Haruko in encouragement.

Sakuragi blushed and smiled. "Since Haruko says so…"

He took off his shirt. "Then I will jump!" he announced as Mitsui and Miyagi cheered and whistled.

He marched out of the den and to the swimming pool, with his friends following him. All except him had their warm clothes on. Hiroko even had her hands rubbed by Kogure, so that she wouldn't feel cold. The cold wind blew at Sakuragi and he shuddered. But he continued to walk and stepped onto the diving board.

For a moment he hesitated at the sight of the freezing waters.

"Go on, Sakuragi, jump!" yelled Mitsui in amusement and Miyagi laughed.

"He will catch a cold, that's for sure." said Kogure.

Sakuragi continued to stare at the water.

"Oi, Sakuragi, isn't there a saying that an idiot won't catch a cold? You will be just fine." said Rukawa calmly.

At that sentence, Sakuragi turned and scowled at Rukawa. "You wild fox! I will catch a cold for you to see!" he snapped and immediately, he dived into the swimming pool with a loud splash.

Miyagi and Mitsui cheered as Sakuragi resurfaced and swam to the edge of the pool. Then they quickly went and helped him out.

"I will get a towel!" said Mitsui and he ran off.

Once everyone was back in the den, they carried on the game. This time, it was Sakuragi who was giving the number.

"47." said Mitsui.

Sakuragi drank his hot chocolate before he said, "1 to 47."

"40." said Akagi.

"1 to 40."

"30." said Haruko.

"30 to 40."

"32." said Ayako.

"32 to 40."

"35." said Miyagi and closed his eyes tightly.

"35 to 40." said Sakuragi and Miyagi sighed in relief.

"39." said Rukawa.

"Darn… 35 to 39." said Sakuragi unwillingly. "Megane-kun, your turn."

For a moment, Kogure just went silent. There's only a slight chance that he would not get the number right…

"Kogure, hurry up." said Sakuragi impatiently.

"37?" said Kogure quietly.

Sakuragi stared at Kogure. Then he grinned. "Bingo!"

"_I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead..._" thought Kogure as he looked at Sakuragi with Mitsui's towel over him. He would hate to think what would happen if he jumped into the pool. And more importantly, he couldn't swim.

Then he laughed nervously. "Is it all right if I don't jump into the pool?"

"Who says that you need to jump into the pool?" asked Sakuragi.

Kogure blinked. "Huh?"

"What's his punishment then?" asked Mitsui.

Sakuragi thought for a while. "Kiss Hiroko, right in front of all of us."

Kogure went pale while Hiroko's cheeks went pink. "No way!"

"Way." said Sakuragi, nodding.

"Just hurry up and get it over with. I'm sure you two have a lot of practice." said Miyagi, grinning with excitement.

"_I haven't kissed anyone except my mother in my entire life!_" thought Kogure, feeling he had been wronged.

Even Ayako and Haruko were leaning forward with eagerness. Akagi watched with amusement. Rukawa just sat with his arms folded, not interested with the whole thing.

"Hurry up, Kogure." said Miyagi.

Kogure looked at Mitsui for help, but he just shrugged helplessly and smiled. Obviously, he wasn't trying very hard to help Kogure out.

Feeling rather pressurized, Kogure had no choice but to face Hiroko. "J-just close your eyes, Hiroko."

Hiroko nodded in embarrassment and closed her eyes.

"The good show is coming up." said Miyagi, rubbing his hands.

"Anyone got a camera?" asked Sakuragi.

"Aho." said Rukawa.

Kogure took a deep breath, leaned forward and kissed Hiroko lightly on the cheek.

"Okay, I'm done." said Kogure quickly and moved back, who felt that he was burning from head to toe. Hiroko had her head lowered and didn't say anything.

"Just a peck on the cheek? No fun." said Sakuragi in disappointment.

"I think it's pretty cute." said Haruko in awe.

"Just let them off." said Mitsui finally, waving his hand. "Let's carry on the game."

* * *

After the game, it was time for exchanging the presents. Sakuragi and Miyagi were extremely happy to get their presents from Haruko and Ayako respectively and they treated their presents like gems.

When 10pm came, Hiroko announced that it was time for her to go home.

"Eh? But we want you to stay for the countdown to Christmas." said Mitsui in disappointment.

"Gomen, my father wants me to go home early." said Hiroko apologetically.

"That bear…" Sakuragi muttered in resentment.

"I will escort you home." said Kogure, getting up. "Then I will go home as well."

"Aw, Kogure, not you too!" Mitsui protested.

"You know me. I always go home earlier than the rest." said Kogure calmly. To be honest, he didn't want to stay behind alone and get teased by Sakuragi and Miyagi the whole night.

"I will see you two to the door." said Mitsui, getting up.

Sakuragi and Miyagi looked at each other before they grinned.

"What are you two grinning about?" asked Ayako.

Miyagi beckoned Ayako to come over and whispered into her ear.

* * *

After Kogure and Hiroko left the house, Hiroko smiled. "Your friends are… pretty amusing."

"They're… okay." said Kogure. "_Only when it concerns basketball._" he added to himself silently.

"I do hope Sakuragi is all right." said Hiroko.

"He won't be." said Kogure firmly. "He will make sure that he will catch a cold, just to prove that Rukawa is wrong."

Hiroko giggled.

Then, white snow slowly drifted down from the sky. Silently, they covered the whole place.

"Ah, it's snowing." said Hiroko in delight and stretched out her hand, letting the snowflakes to land on her palm. "It's white Christmas…" she said suddenly.

Kogure nodded in agreement. "White Christmas."

Hiroko blushed slightly and let out a breath. "Phew, it's freezing out here." she said, rubbing her hands.

Kogure smiled at his girlfriend slightly.

"Come here." he said gently and without hesitation, he put his arm around Hiroko and pulled her close, just to keep her warm. "Better?"

Hiroko smiled sweetly and nodded.

* * *

When they were near Hiroko's house, Hiroko turned to Kogure. "Arigato, I will just walk by myself from here."

"You sure?" asked Kogure.

Hiroko nodded. "W-well… um, I guess we have to say goodbye."

Kogure nodded but he didn't say anything. Neither did Hiroko. They just stood there and stared, no, gazed at each other.

Slowly, they moved forward and closed their eyes. And then…

Hiroko bumped her forehead against Kogure's glasses.

"Ouch, itai!" said Hiroko quickly and she moved back, rubbing her forehead.

"Gomen!" said Kogure and examined Hiroko's forehead. "Daijoubu? I'm sorry, I didn't realize…"

Hiroko giggled. "It's okay… We're inexperienced after all."

Kogure grinned and took off his glasses.

Once again, they moved forward and this time, they managed to kiss.

* * *

As Kogure and Hiroko were locked in an embrace, 5 people were watching them from where they were behind a lamppost, carefully staying out of the couple's sight. They were Mitsui, Miyagi, Sakuragi, Ayako and Haruko.

"It's so romantic." said Haruko dreamily.

"Took Megane-kun long enough to finally kiss her." complained Sakuragi.

The teenagers giggled quietly.

"Come on guys, let's go back before they spot us." said Mitsui.

The five teenagers left, leaving the couple behind.


	11. Kogure's Shock of the Century!

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Chapter 11: Kogure's Shock of the Century!

It's 1st of January and the Japanese would go to the temple to pray and ask the Gods their fortunes for the New Year.

Kogure woke up in the morning and after eating his breakfast and wishing his parents a Happy New Year, he went to call Hiroko.

"Moshi moshi, Gouhara's residence." said a voice on the phone. It's a boy's and it sounds familiar, but Kogure couldn't make out who's on the phone.

"Moshi moshi? Are you there?" asked the voice in puzzlement.

"Um, hai." said Kogure in his 'Kimiko' voice. "I'm looking for Hiroko."

"Chotto matte." said the voice in politeness. "Hiroko, phone!"

"Hai, Hiroko here." said Hiroko.

"Happy New Year, Hiroko." said Kogure happily.

"Happy New Year to you too. Why are you calling?"

"I'm asking you whether you want to go to the temple." asked Kogure.

"Okay."

"Good. Then maybe we will go for lunch, is that okay with you?"

"That will be fine."

"I'll see you later at the temple in 20 minutes." said Kogure and he hang up.

* * *

As it was a special occasion, Kogure put on his traditional costume and went out. Kogure was wearing wooden sandals, so when he noticed that he was getting late, he couldn't run faster than usual with them on and he ended up a few minutes late at the temple.

"Gomen, I'm not used to run in these sandals." said Kogure as he tried to catch his breath.

"It's okay." said Hiroko.

As soon as Kogure had steadied himself, he looked at Hiroko and smiled. Hiroko was wearing her pink kimono with white cherry blossoms printed on it. Her waist was tied with a red sash. Her hair had a red ribbon on it. With Kogure in his own robe, they looked very good together.

"You looked nice." said Kogure sincerely.

Hiroko smiled. "Arigato." Then she blushed slightly and lowered her head. "Um… Kiminobu…"

"Nani?"

"My parents thought I was going out with Kimiko, so they asked my cousin to come along… He has just come to stay for a few days…" said Hiroko slowly. "I hope you don't mind… I have told my cousin that I'm going out with a boy…"

"Oh…"

"But you two have the same interest, I'm sure you can get along." said Hiroko quickly.

Kogure smiled. "I don't mind." he said cheerfully. "As long as it's not my basketball team mates… where is he?"

"He has gone to look around…" said Hiroko and she looked over Kogure's shoulder. "Ah, there he is!" she waved merrily.

Kogure turned and he went pale. "Ah!"

It's Akira Sendoh, the ace player of Ryonan!

Sendoh stared at Kogure with his mouth slightly open. "It's you!"

Hiroko looked at Kogure, then at Sendoh in puzzlement. "You two know each other?"

Sendoh smiled. "Sure, Ryonan lost to Shohoku because of him and Sakuragi."

"What did he do?" asked Hiroko in excitement while Kogure still looked rather stunned.

"3-points shot." said Sendoh. "You should have been there to see it, Cousin. He practically saves the team with his shot."

"I couldn't, you know that, Akira." said Hiroko, but she was smiling.

"So you are Hiroko's boyfriend?" asked Sendoh politely.

"… Hai." said Kogure finally. No wonder he found the voice on the phone familiar…

"And you are Hiroko's cousin?"

Sendoh nodded. "Our mothers are sisters."

Kogure laughed nervously. "What a coincidence."

Sendoh shrugged helplessly.

"Um… you are not going to tell Gouhara-san, are you?" asked Kogure worriedly.

Sendoh smiled again. "Of course not. I know Ojiisan's character. He will kill you if he finds out that you are going out with Hiroko. I will keep it as a secret. Anyway, it's not my idea to tag along and play gooseberry. So I will just walk around the place until you two are done…"

He turned. Kogure got over his shock and realized that it wasn't very nice to let Sendoh go, he's Hiroko's cousin after all…

"Ah, Sendoh!" called Kogure quickly.

"Nandayo?" asked Sendoh.

"Why don't you join us?" asked Kogure.

Sendoh looked surprised. "Are you sure? I don't want to…"

"Join us, cousin." said Hiroko.

Sendoh hesitated, then he smiled slowly. "Okay."

* * *

Together, Sendoh, Kogure and Hiroko walked around the temple. Unlike Kogure's friends, Sendoh was being respectful. He often kept a distance away from the couple and kept quiet, as if he was pretending he didn't know his cousin and her boyfriend.

"Akira, don't just stand there, come and take a fortune." called Hiroko to her cousin.

Sendoh came over and the trio prayed to the gods before they took their own fortune slips.

"Ah" groaned Hiroko as she looked at her slip. "It's a bad fortune. Look at the prediction for my love life: _break up with your lover before it's too late._"

Sendoh was frowning but he didn't say anything.

Kogure looked at his girlfriend's. "Well, mine isn't very good either. I guess there are no good fortunes in here…"

"What about yours, Akira?" asked Hiroko.

Sendoh smiled, crumpled up his slip and put it in his pocket. "It's nothing."

"Let me see." said Hiroko.

Sendoh shook his head.

Hiroko pouted.

"All right, stop pouting." said Sendoh quickly and he took out his paper.

Hiroko and Kogure looked at the fortune in awe. "It's a good fortune! _Continue to do good things this year and you will be blessed…_but look at the other prediction… _You will lose someone you love very soon…_" read Kogure.

"Told you it's nothing." said Sendoh. "It will not come true."

"How do you know?" asked Kogure.

"You two are such a loving couple, what could tear you apart?" said Sendoh sincerely.

Kogure blushed while Hiroko said uncomfortably, "Akira, don't…"

Sendoh put his hands in his pockets. "By the way, are you two done? If it's all right with you, Kogure, then I think Hiroko and I should go home…"

"Actually I did ask Hiroko to go for lunch…" said Kogure slowly.

Sendoh thought for a while, then he smiled.

"You two go ahead, I will go back to your house myself." said Sendoh to Hiroko.

"Are you sure?" said Kogure.

Sendoh nodded. "Go on, Hiroko, I will find my way back myself…"

* * *

Sendoh arrived back to Hiroko's house and found his aunt and uncle in the living room. "I'm back." he called.

"Eh? Akira, where's Hiroko?" asked Mrs Gouhara.

"Her friend asks her to go for lunch. I don't want to tag along, so I come back." explained Sendoh.

Mr Gouhara frowned. "Akira, don't you know that if you spend more time with Hiroko, you will get to know her better?"

"I know her enough." said Sendoh, shrugging. "She's my cousin and we grew up together."

"Yes, but if you are marrying her in the future…" started Mr Gouhara patiently.

Sendoh frowned slightly. "Ojiisan, I don't want to talk about it." he interrupted. "Call me when lunch is ready. I will be in my room, practicing my basketball."

He went to the guestroom and closed the door.

Mr Gouhara sighed and shook his head. "I don't know what is it with boys and basketball…" he turned to his wife. "I just hope that he won't be a basketball coach in the future, how is Hiroko going to live if she's married to a boy who does nothing except chasing after basketballs…"

* * *

Hiroko didn't get home until 3pm and when she did, she saw her cousin standing at the door.

"Hiroko, can I talk to you for a moment?" asked Sendoh, his face filled with trouble.

"Okay."

"Let's go to the playground nearby."

With his arm around Hiroko's shoulders, Sendoh and Hiroko looked like a couple as they walked together to the playground.

"Sit down." said Sendoh to Hiroko, indicating the swing.

Hiroko sat down. "What's wrong, Akira?"

Sendoh sighed and he sat down beside Hiroko on another swing. "Ojiisan is talking about our marriage again."

Clutching on the chains of her swing, Hiroko asked, "Akira, why don't you just tell my father to cancel the whole engagement? It's ridiculous. I can't marry you, you are my cousin."

"I know that, you know that, but do our parents understand that?" asked Sendoh quietly. "If only I'm not a boy. Then my parents won't betroth you to me and you can like Kogure freely."

Hiroko sniffled.

"So what are you planning to do now?" asked Sendoh in concern.

Hiroko shrugged. "I don't know, as long as I can be with Kiminobu, I will be happy. Enjoy it while it lasts."

Sendoh was quiet. Hiroko then smiled at her cousin. "Push me on my swing?"

Sendoh smiled and got up. He went to his cousin from behind. "You just won't grow up, huh?" he teased.

Hiroko giggled as Sendoh pushed her on her swing.


	12. Caught in the Act

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Chapter 12: Caught in the Act

School started in Kanagawa and Kogure and Hiroko began to busy themselves with their school activities. They barely had enough time together. Kogure had basketball practices after school everyday and Hiroko was busy with her own things. It didn't get better during the weekends either. Because there's an important match coming up, Kogure needed to attend the extra trainings on Saturdays, and on Sundays, Hiroko was ordered to stay at home, because her father thought that she had already spent too much time outside.

The only time they did get together was the regular "study session" they had in the library during mornings before school started, but that's enough for them.

* * *

Finally, February came and Kogure got a day off on the day before the match against Apollo Collage, because Anzai sensei wanted them to get a good rest.

That morning, Kogure called Hiroko straightaway.

"Hai, Gouhara residence." said Hiroko.

"Hiroko, it's me." said Kogure in his normal voice.

"Kimi…" started Hiroko excitedly and she glanced at her father, who was sitting near her. "…ko!" she ended quickly. "How are you? I thought you are busy today?"

"Anzai sensei wants the team to take a day off today." said Kogure. "So I'm free. Want to go out?"

"Of course." said Hiroko happily. "Where do you want to go?"

"The zoo? We can spend the whole day there."

"All right."

"Okay then, see you in 10 minutes at the bus station." said Kogure. "Ja ne."

Hiroko hung up the phone and called, "I'm going out!"

"To where?" asked her father.

"Zoo." said Hiroko as she put on her shoes.

"With who? Akira?" asked her mother in interest.

"No, Kimiko." said Hiroko and went out. "I will be back before dinner!"

"Kimiko again." said Mr Gouhara, shaking his head. "Does that daughter of mine go out with anybody else beside that friend with a weird voice?"

Mr Gouhara called his wife. "By the way, remind me to go out later, I want to buy a new wooden sword…"

* * *

Holding hands, Kogure and Hiroko walked in the zoo, looking at animals from all over the world. They laughed when they saw the gorillas, for they really reminded the couple of Akagi.

The day passed by quickly and evening came, so Hiroko had to go home.

"What a day, I'm exhausted!" said Hiroko as she and Kogure walked down the street, holding hands like any happy couple. They even had ice creams in their free hands.

"You're exhausted? Try taking basketball practice for a day." suggested Kogure.

"No way, I will collapsed." said Hiroko in protest. "Speaking of basketball, I'm sorry that I couldn't go to the match tomorrow to see Shohoku play. You know my father, he will never let me go…"

"It's okay. I understand." said Kogure kindly.

"But remember to tell me everything about the match on Monday." said Hiroko.

A car door slammed behind the couple but they didn't notice.

"That's easy," said Kogure, grinning. "As usual, Rukawa will gain the spotlight tomorrow."

"Don't you ever play?" asked Hiroko.

"Not unless one of the base players is out…" said Kogure. "I get to play in the game against Ryonan because Mitsui tired himself out in the second half."

"Hope you get to play tomorrow."

"What do I get in return if I play tomorrow?" asked Kogure as he finished his ice cream.

Hiroko pretended to think.

"If you play AND perform well…" said Hiroko slowly and grinned. "You will get this!"

Then Hiroko pressed her ice cream-stained hand on Kogure's cheek. Kogure gave a short scream and Hiroko laughed.

"HIROKO!"

Kogure and Hiroko turned around. Immediately, Kogure let go of Hiroko's hand.

Mr Gouhara was there, glaring at them as he stood beside his car.

"O-otousan? What are you doing here?" asked Hiroko in horror.

Mr Gouhara stormed to them and after an angry glance at Kogure, he grabbed Hiroko's hand. "Come home with me."

"But…" started Hiroko.

"Now!" roared her father.

Hiroko looked at Kogure.

"Gouhara-san, I can explain…" started Kogure.

"Shut up, boy." said Mr Gouhara and looked at Hiroko. "Let's go."

Then, he dragged her daughter away to the car, leaving Kogure behind with the stain still on his cheek. His happy mood was now replaced with worry. He kept on looking at Hiroko until she got into the car and her father drive off.

* * *

"Moshi moshi, Sendoh residence." said a voice in the phone.

"I'm Gouhara, get Akira to the phone, right now." said Mr Gouhara.

Hiroko was at home, sitting on the sofa. She looked at her mother for help, but her mother's face was emotionless.

"Hai, Akira here." said Sendoh.

"Nephew, get over here right now, I want to talk to you."

"Can't we talk over the phone, Ojiisan?" asked Sendoh.

"No." snapped Mr Gouhara.

"Okay, I will take about an hour to get there, because I have just finished my basketball practice and I'm covered with sweat, then I need to take the train…"

"Don't shower, just come here!" said Mr Gouhara, annoyed.

"Okay okay…"

* * *

Sendoh came over to the Gouhara's in his Ryonan sport jacket and immediately, he saw his cousin's sad face. He sat down beside Hiroko. "What's wrong, Ojiisan?" he asked in concern.

"Akira, you have been cheated on." said his uncle.

"Huh?" asked Sendoh in confusion.

"Your fiancée has been going out with someone else behind your back!" said Mr Gouhara angrily.

Sendoh blinked and turned to his cousin. "He knows, huh?" he asked.

"What do you mean by 'he knows, huh'?" asked Mr Gouhara. He looked at Hiroko, then back at Sendoh. "You mean you know that Hiroko has another boyfriend beside you?"

"That's not correct, I'm not her boyfriend, Kiminobu Kogure is."

"How could you let her do this, Akira?" asked Sendoh's aunt in horror. "Hiroko is your fiancée!"

"As long as we are not married, Hiroko has the freedom to love whoever she wants." said Sendoh calmly.

"What sort of rubbish is this?" asked Mr Gouhara, slapping his hand on the table. "You two are betrothed to each other since you were babies!"

Sendoh was silent.

"Hiroko, I don't care what you do, just break up with that boy."

Both Sendoh and Hiroko looked horrified.

"But, Otousan, I can't do that, I will break his heart!" said Hiroko.

"Break it then." said Mr Gouhara. "I don't care."

"Ojiisan, how could you?" asked Sendoh quietly.

"Baka, what do you mean? I'm doing this for you own good." said Mr Gouhara. "You two are going to be married sooner or later anyway, it's better for you and Hiroko not to go out with anybody else."

"Why must I marry to Akira?" asked Hiroko angrily.

"Hiroko, don't get too agitated…" said her mother worriedly. Even Sendoh looked concerned.

"Because you two are betrothed and as far as I know, Akira is the best husband a girl could ever have!" said Mr Gouhara firmly.

"You don't even know Kiminobu, he's as good as Akira!" argued Hiroko.

"That's true." Sendoh muttered.

Mr Gouhara snorted. "I don't have to know him. He mixes with those rowdy people I met during that beach outing and that's enough."

"But Kiminobu isn't like any one of them! He even wants to be a doctor when he's older!" shouted Hiroko.

"Hey, that's better than me. I want to be a basketball coach when I'm older." said Sendoh.

"Be quiet, Akira." growled his uncle and turned to Hiroko. "I don't care if he wants to be a doctor or a vet, you are breaking up with him and that's that! I don't want you to hang around with a basketball player. You know your heart isn't in a good condition, what if he drags you to see his matches and you get overexcited?"

"Akira is a basketball player too!" said Hiroko.

Sendoh looked at his sport jacket and didn't say anything.

Mr Gouhara was silent for a moment before he said, "And I know Akira better! Now either you break up with that boy or I disown you, understand? I mean it!"

Hiroko glared at her father, tears filled her eyes.

"You are biased, Otousan! You just want me to marry Akira and nobody else, I hate you!" shouted Hiroko and she ran out of the house.

"Hiroko!" cried her mother, who wanted to chase after her.

"Obasan, let me." said Sendoh and he went out after his cousin.

"Good boy, Akira! Let's see if you could talk some senses into her…" called Mr Gouhara.

* * *

Sendoh arrived at the playground and looked around. The playground seemed deserted. But Sendoh knew exactly where to look. Immediately, he went to the slide and looked beside it.

Hiroko was there, sitting on the ground, with her arms wrapped around her legs.

"I found you." sang Sendoh, trying to cheer his cousin up.

Hiroko looked up and smiled slightly. "How do you know I'm here?"

Sendoh came and sat down beside her. "Remember when we were little, we played tag and you broke Ojiisan's vase?"

Hiroko thought for a while and nodded.

"Ojiisan yelled at you and you ran out. Took us a while to find you asleep beside the slide." said Sendoh, smiling at the memory. "So I came here, just to try my luck."

"Are you going to take me home?" asked Hiroko.

Sendoh shrugged.

"Not until you feel better." he said. He looked at his cousin in concern. "How are you feeling now?"

Hiroko sniffled. "I can't believe Otousan."

"Me either." Sendoh muttered. "Does that mean you, um, have to break up with Kogure?"

Hiroko looked at Sendoh and nodded. "I have no choice, do I? Otousan always meant what he said, no matter what…"

Hiroko's voice sounded like she was going to break down, so Sendoh put his arm around her shoulders. And sure enough, Hiroko started to cry once he did.

"… B-but I really don't want to. Kiminobu is the one who brings me joy and happiness… It's wonderful to be with him these few months, I don't know what to do after I break up with him… my life just won't be the same without him."

Sendoh let Hiroko cried on his shoulder. "You will get over it. Just treat these few months as a beautiful dream." he said quietly and hugged his cousin in comfort.

"Akira… are you going to see the match that Shohoku is playing in tomorrow?"

"Yes." said Sendoh.

"If you see Kiminobu there, please don't tell him about what happened today."

"Okay."

Hiroko showed her pinkie to Sendoh.

"Promise?"

Sendoh smiled slightly before hooking his own little finger with Hiroko's.

"Promise."

* * *

Sendoh led his Ryonan team to the stadium and watched the game that Shohoku was playing in. As usual, Rukawa was performing well and Sakuragi was green with jealousy. Mitsui gained points with his three-point shots and Miyagi ran with a lightning speed whenever he had the ball with him.

Sendoh looked at Kogure, who was sitting at the bench along with the rest of the Shohoku players. He looked rather distracted and didn't even cheer with the rest when Rukawa had thrown his 8th shot of the game into the hoop.

The game ended with the score 89-70, Shohoku won. Kogure got up and smiled at his team mates.

That's when he saw Sendoh and his team, who were leaving the stadium

Immediately, he excused himself and ran out.

"Sendoh, chotto matte!" he called after the captain of the Ryonan team as they walked out of the stadium.

Sendoh turned and gave a polite look of puzzlement.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" said Kogure.

Sendoh nodded. "Certainly." he turned to his team mates. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."

After his team mates left, Sendoh turned to Kogure. "What is it? Has my cousin given you any trouble?" he asked, smiling.

"Iie." said Kogure quietly.

He then told Sendoh about everything that happened yesterday.

"So I'm worried about Hiroko, is she going to be all right?" asked Kogure in concern.

"_Wow, he really loves her._" thought Sendoh.

Sendoh began to think of what to tell Kogure without breaking his promise to Hiroko.

"Actually…" said Sendoh slowly, "She called me this morning."

"And?" asked Kogure anxiously.

"She sounds okay. Maybe Ojiisan just lectured her or something." lied Sendoh.

"That's good." said Kogure, sighing in relief. "Maybe I should call her and…"

"No!" said Sendoh immediately. "I mean, you better not."

"You're right, I don't want to make things worse just when it's getting better." said Kogure.

"_Wrong Kogure, you don't want to make things worse than it is now._" thought Sendoh.

"Oi, Kogure! Stop talking to Sendoh and come back here!" yelled Mitsui. "We are going to celebrate!"

"Hai!" called Kogure. "I'm coming!"

He turned back to Sendoh. "Arigato, Sendoh, for telling me about Hiroko."

Sendoh smiled back. "No problem."

"KOGURE!" yelled Mitsui.

"Hai!" yelled Kogure and turned to Sendoh. "I better go, bye."

"Bye." said Sendoh and watched in sympathy as Kogure happily went back to his team mates.


	13. Valentine's Day

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Chapter 13: Valentine's Day

Miyagi was checking the basketball practice schedule for this week when he realized that 14th of February was approaching, and that's Valentine's Day.

"Oi, Hanamichi!" yelled Miyagi and he ran to his best friend after class. "Look at the schedule…"

"There's practice everyday, big deal…" said Sakuragi without much attention to the paper Miyagi had in his hand.

"Baka, look more carefully!"

"12th, 13th, 14th, 15th…" read Sakuragi and then he blinked and grabbed the paper but Miyagi had a firm grip on it. "Wait a minute, 14th? Valentine's Day is on this week?"

Miyagi nodded in excitement. Then he and Sakuragi grinned at each other.

"Do you think we will get Valentine's Day chocolates this year?" asked Miyagi dreamily.

"I hope so." said Sakuragi hopefully. "What would you do if you get a box of chocolates from Ayako?"

"Haven't thought about that. What about you?"

"Eat the chocolates right on the spot." said Sakuragi. "Haruko's chocolates must be very delicious…"

"So must be Aya-chan's…" said Miyagi.

Rukawa walked past and he saw Sakura and Miyagi standing at the corridor with the schedule in their hands, both blushing and grinning in a silly way.

"_What are those two idiots doing…_" he thought.

* * *

When Valentine's Day approached, girls would be working hard, making chocolates for the boys they like, just to express their feelings.

And that included Hiroko. She stood in the kitchen and stirred the light brown mixture in the pot.

"Hiroko, what are you doing?" asked her mother.

"Making chocolate."

"For Akira?" asked her mother.

Hiroko didn't answer. Seeing that her daughter was quiet, Mrs Gouhara just left.

Hiroko continued to stir her chocolate, but she didn't seem to be concentrating on it. In fact, she didn't even notice that she had shed a drop of tear right into the mixture.

* * *

Valentine's Day arrived and the love fever spread throughout the whole Shohoku school.

Rukawa opened his locker and found love letters piling up in it. Without a second thought, he simply removed them from his locker and threw them into the trashcan so that he could put his things in.

Akagi opened his locker and saw a letter in it. He took it and turned to his sister. "Haruko, there's no need to put your card into my locker, just give it to me."

Mitsui found love letters in his lockers and he spent 10 minutes reading all of them.

Sakuragi found five letters in his locker but he was disappointed to see that there's no letter from Haruko. However, he decided to come back later in case Haruko put the Valentine's card in his locker at a later time.

Miyagi saw Ayako's letter in his locker and happily, he took it.

"Kogure, look! I got a letter from Aya-chan!" he said, waving the letter at the vice-captain of the basketball team as he walked by with books in his hands.

"Really? That's nice." said Kogure and walked off.

Miyagi opened the card, only to find that Ayako had written in her best calligraphy: '_To all Shohoku basketball players_' instead of '_To Ryota_' on the card.

* * *

The day passed quickly and when the school was over, it was time for the usual basketball practice.

"Ayako, thanks for the Valentine's Day card." said Miyagi, blushing.

"What do you think of my handwriting?" asked Ayako.

"Superb!" said Miyagi happily and Ayako smiled.

Sakuragi sulked at the scene, for he didn't even receive anything from Haruko.

"Sakuragi?" asked Haruko.

"Hai!" said Sakuragi, turning his head eagerly to her. "_Here it comes, here it comes…_" he thought excitedly.

"Your shoelace is undone." said Haruko helpfully.

Sakuragi's face fell.

"Oh. Arigato." he mumbled and he squatted down to tie his shoelace.

"By the way…" said Haruko.

"Nani?" asked Sakuragi grumpily as he continued to tie his shoelace. He didn't care if he got anything from Haruko anymore. Obviously she gave her chocolates to that darn Rukawa…

"Hai." said Haruko.

Sakuragi looked up and saw a box of chocolates right in front of him. "What the…"

Haruko smiled shyly. "Today is Valentine's Day and you are a good friend, so I decide to make a box for you…"

Sakuragi's face changed from being depressed to delight. He jumped up and took the chocolate from Haruko. "Arigato!" he said.

Kogure smiled at Sakuragi and Miyagi, who were talking to their crushes and frowned slightly. He had not seen Hiroko throughout the whole day. She didn't come for the 'study session' recently and she didn't leave anything in his locker. Feeling rather lonely, Kogure sighed.

"What is it, Kogure?" asked Mitsui, slapping his best friend on the back.

"Nothing."

"Is it because Hiroko didn't give you anything today?" asked Mitsui, grinning.

Kogure blushed in embarrassment.

"Kogure! Hiroko is looking for you!" called Ayako.

Kogure looked up and saw Hiroko, standing outside the court. Kogure smiled and ran off to her.

"Lucky bastard." Mitsui muttered.

* * *

"Hi." said Kogure, smiling.

Hiroko smiled back slightly. "Do you have a minute?"

"I guess so." said Kogure.

"Ja…"

"Kogure, if you have something on, just go. You are allowed to skip practice today." said Anzai from behind.

"Eh?" asked Kogure. "But…"

"Today is Valentine's Day. If you want to spend your day with Hiroko-san, go ahead." said Anzai.

"Really?" asked Kogure in surprise.

Anzai nodded. "Go."

Kogure turned back to Hiroko. "Want to spend the rest of the day together?"

Hiroko nodded eagerly. Kogure smiled and went back into the court to pick his bag and his sports jacket.

"Oi, Kogure, where are you going?" asked Akagi.

"I got a day-off! Ja ne!" called Kogure and said to his coach. "Arigato, sensei!"

"Ho ho ho…" said Anzai. "It's good to be young…"

* * *

"Where do you want to go?" asked Kogure to Hiroko as they walked out of the school gates, holding hands.

"To the shopping street. I feel like buy something." said Hiroko, smiling.

"Okay. To be honest, I thought you are not allowed to come out with me anymore. Not since your father saw us…" said Kogure.

Hiroko shuddered but she didn't say anything.

* * *

At the shopping street, Kogure and Hiroko went everywhere. They went to the gift shop and Hiroko spent a while, trying to see which bracelet suited her best. Kogure just stood by and watched. She was about to buy a new necklace as well when Kogure suddenly said, "You don't have to buy a new one."

"Huh?" asked Hiroko.

"Never mind." he muttered. But Hiroko didn't buy any in the end, much to Kogure's relief.

Then they went to toy shop where they fooled around and fought (flirted is more like it…) with the stuffed animal toys they had in their hands. They walked past a video arcade and Hiroko dragged Kogure in, so that they could take photos at the photo-sticker machine in the arcade.

Throughout the whole day, the couple was happy, but Kogure couldn't help noticing the sad look on Hiroko's face she had whenever she thought Kogure wasn't looking.

* * *

As they walked home together, Kogure asked, "Are you happy today?"

Hiroko nodded. "Today is the best day I ever had." Then she held on to Kogure's arm lovingly.

"_Maybe I'm overreacting…_" thought Kogure.

* * *

As usual, they stopped at the corner of the street where Hiroko lived.

"So, I will see you tomorrow morning then." said Kogure, smiling.

Hiroko stared at Kogure sadly. Kogure blinked in surprise. "What's wrong?"

Hiroko blinked and shook her head. "Nothing." she then opened her bag and took out a box of chocolates. "Hai. This is for you. I made them myself."

Kogure blushed and smiled. "Arigato. I won't bear to eat them through…"

"No, you have to." said Hiroko quietly. "My love for you is in those chocolates. You have to eat them all."

Kogure looked embarrassed. "All right." he said and kept the chocolates. Then he opened his own bag and took out a long box. "And this is for you."

"What is this? Chocolate?" asked Hiroko, smiling slightly.

Kogure laughed. "Iie, of course not. It's, um… a Valentine's Day gift." he said shyly.

Hiroko took it and she stared at the gift. Then she looked back at Kogure, who was still smiling. He was expecting her to kiss him but instead, Hiroko sniffled and threw her arms around him.

"What the…" asked Kogure in puzzlement.

"Just hold me, Kiminobu." said Hiroko, her voice muffled as she buried her face in his jacket.

Kogure looked confused, but he hugged her anyway. "What's the matter?" he asked softly. "Did you have a fight with your father?"

Hiroko shook her head. Kogure stroked her head. "Come on, no matter what happens, I will be here for you…"

"No, you won't." said Hiroko quietly.

"Huh?"

"I… I have to go now. Remember to eat those chocolates." said Hiroko looking up at him.

"Sure. I promise I will eat all of them." said Kogure, grinning.

Hiroko smiled, then suddenly she pulled her boyfriend close for a long kiss. She let go of him and while Kogure still looked rather dazed, she dashed off to her house.

Kogure shook his head to clear it. "Whoa, what happened?"

He watched Hiroko went into her house and he smiled. "See you tomorrow then, ja ne!" he said and he left.

* * *

Hiroko went into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She closed her eyes. There, she had done it. She had sent the chocolates to Kogure… Hiroko sat down on the floor sadly, with the gift still in her hand. She stared at the gift and unwrapped it.

It's a velvet-made box. She opened and found a folded note and gold heart-shaped locket in it.

"Oh my God, it's beautiful…" she said quietly. She picked the locket out and opened it. Her face was emotionless when she saw the tiny picture of herself and Kogure in the locket. But when she read the note, her face crumbled and she started to weep. It said:

**Dear Hiroko,**

**I know it's a little old-fashioned to give you a gold locket, but I just want to express a saying: Love is more solid than gold. Keep this close to your heart. I hope our love will last forever.**

**Remember, I love you.**

**Love,  
****Kiminobu**

"Gomen, Kiminobu…" she sobbed.

* * *

Kogure got home, whistling.

"Kiminobu, you're home." said his mother. "By the way, Mitsui called just now. You better call him back."

"Later, Okaasan." said Kogure, smiling. Mitsui probably just called to get all the juicy details about his date today. Well, he would tell him later, after he ate the chocolates.

He went to his room and sat on the desk. Then he took out the chocolates. He opened the box and found a note inside.

"Just like what I did for her." said Kogure, smiling. "Looks like our minds think alike."

He took a piece of chocolate and popped it into his mouth. "Not bad." he said happily and unfolded the note.

His smile vanished. Then he read it for the second and the third time, just to see if he's reading it correctly:

_Dear Kiminobu,_

_Happy Valentine's Day. This is the first and last time I'm going to give you chocolates. I afraid we mustn't see each other again. Please don't ask me why. I'm sorry to hurt your feelings. I hope you will find a girl better than me. _

_Hiroko_

"You're lying." Kogure muttered. Then he crumpled up the paper and closed his eyes.

* * *

The next day, Kogure walked around the school, as if he was in a trance. He couldn't concentrate in his class, for Hiroko was all he could think about.

Finally, school was over and he went to the basketball practice. Immediately after he had opened the door that led to the basketball court, Sakuragi, Miyagi and Mitsui rushed to him.

"Hey, how's our lover boy doing?" asked Miyagi.

"Why didn't you call me back last night? I called, you know." said Mitsui.

"He's probably too busy, you know. Spending a passionate night with Hiroko." teased Sakuragi.

The three boys laughed as Kogure walked past them. Then he stopped, his back facing them.

"Come on, Kogure, tell us all the juicy details, what did you two do?" asked Miyagi.

"Whatever it is, it's better not what Sakuragi said." said Mitsui.

"Why not?" asked Sakuragi.

"Aho, Kogure and Hiroko won't do anything like that, not until they are married." snapped Mitsui impatiently.

"You will never know." sang Sakuragi.

"You're crazy." said Mitsui and turned to Kogure, whose back was still facing them. "So what happened yesterday?"

"Did she give you chocolates?" asked Miyagi excitedly.

Kogure was silent.

Sakuragi and Miyagi looked at each other. Mitsui frowned. "Oi, Kogure, are you even listening to us?"

Kogure didn't respond.

"Oi, Megane-kun." called Sakuragi.

Kogure slowly turned his head to them and the trio stared in shock.

Kogure was crying. A single drop of tear had just rolled down his cheek.


	14. Broken Hearts

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Chapter 14: Broken Hearts

"Dou shita no, Kogure?" asked Mitsui quietly.

Kogure looked at his three friends and whispered, "She dumped me."

Sakuragi and Miyagi looked at each other in disbelief.

"Doushite? Dou shita no?" asked Mitsui.

Kogure shook his head. "I don't know."

Kogure looked so depressed that the trio didn't know what to say. Then Haruko and Ayako came in. "Konnichiwa!" they called.

Then they caught sight of Kogure and the three base players of the team. "What's going on?" asked Ayako.

Miyagi went to the girls and whispered, "Hiroko has dumped Kogure."

"You're kidding!" said Haruko.

Miyagi shook his head and looked behind him. Mitsui had his arm around Kogure's shoulders, saying: "Daijoubu, Kogure. You will get over it…"

"E, Hiroko is not the only pebble on the beach, you know…" said Sakuragi quickly. "Take it from me, I have been rejected for 50 times."

"I'm almost as bad as Sakuragi." said Miyagi.

"It's hard to forget your first love, but believe me, you will get better sooner or later." said Mitsui helpfully.

"And you will find someone better than Hiroko." said Sakuragi.

"Just pretend that you don't know this girl at all." said Miyagi.

Kogure sniffled and wiped the tear away from his cheek. "Arigato." he said quietly.

"Are you okay enough to practice today?" asked Ayako.

Kogure nodded.

"Dou shita no?" asked Rukawa, who came into the court.

"None of your business, kitsune." said Sakuragi.

"Kogure is just having a bit of love problems…" said Haruko.

Rukawa looked at Kogure, who still looked upset. "That's too bad." he said simply and walked off.

Everyone (except Kogure) gaped at Rukawa, who went to change his shoes.

"What did Rukawa just say?" asked Sakuragi in shock. "Did you just hear what he has just said?"

* * *

The next day, Kogure got slightly better. However, the Fates decided to play a joke on him and let him bumped into Hiroko after his class at the corridor. Usually students in different grade seldom even met each other in the corridors, because their classrooms were at different levels.

Hiroko was with some of her friends and Kogure was with Akagi. For a moment, Hiroko and Kogure just stared at each other.

"Hiroko, isn't he your boyfriend?" said one of Hiroko's friends.

"Um…" said Hiroko slowly.

Akagi glanced at Kogure in concern.

Kogure closed his eyes for a moment, then he cleared his throat and said, "Iie, I'm not."

"You're not?" asked Hiroko's friend in surprise.

Kogure shook his head.

"In fact, I don't even know all of you." said Kogure. "Which one of you is Hiroko?"

Akagi looked confused, but he kept quiet.

"She is!" said Hiroko's friend, pointing at Hiroko.

Hiroko looked at Kogure, trying to find signs of recognitions, but there wasn't any. Instead, Kogure was staring at her, as if he didn't know her at all. That hurt her badly.

"Ara." said Kogure and looked at Hiroko. "I don't know you at all, Miss. Gomen."

"But you are the vice-captain of the basketball team!" said Hiroko's friend.

"That's true." said Kogure, nodding.

"And Hiroko hit you with a tennis ball once when you were rushing for practice, remember?"

Kogure was silent. For a moment, Akagi thought he see a gleam of sadness in Kogure's eyes, but then Kogure blinked and the sadness gone.

"Iie, I have no recollection of that." said Kogure. "Maybe she hits someone else who looks like me."

"What about all those study sessions you two have in the mornings?"

"I have study sessions, yes. But I'm having them with my basketball team mates, Sakuragi, Miyagi and Mitsui. You can ask my friend here, right Akagi?"

Akagi gave Kogure a surprise look. "Nada…um, hai, Kogure holds study sessions for his friends in the morning." he said finally.

"See?" asked Kogure, smiling.

Hiroko's friends were speechless.

"Gomen, ladies. My friend and I have to go. I hope you all find Hiroko-san's friend soon." said Kogure.

"Demo…" started Hiroko's friend.

"Come on, Akagi." said Kogure. He turned around and left, taking Akagi with him.

"Maybe we did mistake him for someone else." said Hiroko's friend slowly.

Hiroko closed her eyes and tried hard not to cry. No, Kogure did it on purpose and she knew why. Hiroko could feel a dull ache in her heart, but she decided to ignore it.

* * *

"Why did you do that?" asked Akagi to Kogure.

Kogure looked at Akagi sadly. "I just want to get over her sooner, that's all."

* * *

In Sendoh's bedroom, the phone rang. Sendoh tossed the mini basketball through the hoop before he went to pick it up. "Hai, Akira here."

"Hello, cousin." said Hiroko on the phone.

"Ya. What's up?"

"…"

"Is there anything wrong?" asked Sendoh in concern.

"I broke up with Kiminobu, Akira." said Hiroko finally.

"…How did he take it?"

"…"

"Hiroko?"

"… I-I saw him today and he pretended that he didn't know me at all. It's awful." said Hiroko and Sendoh could tell that his cousin was very upset.

"I think his heart is broken, Cousin." said Sendoh finally. "Maybe he thinks you dump him with bad intentions."

"I know… it's my fault. I thought I could be stronger and put all this behind me… and that I will be happy just to look at him, but I was wrong. I don't want to just look at him, I want to hold him like I usually did… When I saw him today, he just looked at me like a stranger… we are not even friends anymore… I still remember the day we first kissed in the snow during Christmas… that's the best memory I ever have with him and now he hates me…"

Then, Sendoh could hear Hiroko breaking down and crying. Sendoh closed his eyes, feeling sad for his cousin. She could have Kogure but no, she was tied down by this stupid betrothal.

At that point, Sendoh was determined to help his cousin. He's going to clear up this misunderstanding by himself.

* * *

The next day, Sendoh skipped his own basketball practice and went to Shohoku. He went to the basketball court and saw Shohoku team doing their practice. As he knew that he was the enemy of the Shohoku basketball team (his excellent basketball skills were too much for them), so he tried not to attract attention to himself and he stood there, hoping that Kogure would notice him.

But Sakuragi was the first one who saw Sendoh. Immediately, he dropped the ball. "Ah, it's Sendoh!"

"Nani?" asked Rukawa, who turned and glared at the Ryonan ace player.

"What is he doing here?" asked Miyagi with resentment.

"Sumimasen." said Sendoh quietly. "May I speak to Kogure for a moment?"

"Doushite?" asked Mitsui rudely.

"Just something." said Sendoh.

"No way." snapped Sakuragi. "Why should we let you talk to Megane-kun?"

BONK

"Itai…" said Sakuragi, covering the bump on his head.

"Baka, it's not your place to decide whether Sendoh could talk to Kogure!" snapped Akagi.

Kogure looked at Sendoh and turned to Anzai. "Sensei, may I be excused?"

Anzai nodded and Kogure went out to Sendoh.

"Be careful, Megane-kun, he may want to take revenge for his school's defeat!" called Sakuragi.

* * *

"Nadayo?" asked Kogure as he and Sendoh walked away from the basketball court, out of everyone's sight.

"I want to talk to you about Hiroko." said Sendoh.

"… what about her?" asked Kogure after a while.

"It's not her fault that she wants to break up with you."

"Doushite? She's the one who wrote the note." said Kogure.

"I don't know what note you are talking about, but believe me. She doesn't want to break up with you either."

"Then why did she do it?"

"Don't you know?"

"Iie. She didn't say."

"It's our parents. We are betrothed to each other since we were babies."

Kogure's eyes widened.

"But don't get me wrong. Hiroko and I love each other, but we are like brother and sister." Sendoh continued. "When Ojiisan found out about you and Hiroko, he was furious. And he wants Hiroko to break up with you or he will disown her. So she did it. Unwillingly, of course. She didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Kogure looked away.

"She called me yesterday and told me what happened in school. She thinks you hate her."

"I don't." Kogure muttered and lowered his head. "At least, not anymore. Thank you for telling me this, Sendoh."

Sendoh shrugged. "Doitashimashite."

"… So does that mean you and Hiroko will get married in the future?" asked Kogure, dreading the answer.

"I afraid so." said Sendoh quietly. "After her graduation, I guess."

Kogure smiled at Sendoh faintly. "Congratulations, then." he said weakly.

"Arigato, but I don't feel like getting congratulated." said Sendoh dryly.

"I feel peaceful now. At least Hiroko will have a good husband." said Kogure.

"I really wish that the groom is you." said Sendoh sincerely.

Kogure smiled sadly and shook his head. "That will never happen."


	15. A Little Help From Sendoh

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Chapter 15: A Little Help From Sendoh

Shohoku had a basketball match on Sunday and as usual Hiroko was forbidden to go. But this time, she wanted to go to the basketball game, badly. She wanted to see Kogure, for she missed him and she wanted to see him played in the game, just once.

So the day before the match, she called Sendoh for help. Sendoh agreed straight away and he came up with a plan.

"Don't know whether this will work, but I will try." said Sendoh on the phone.

* * *

Hiroko sat in her bedroom and prayed hard, hoping that the plan would work. 

Fans of Shohoku and the other team, Ocean High gathered at the stadium to watch the match. The match had already started and the score was 18-20, Ocean High was in the lead.

"Go Shohoku go!" yelled the bench players of Shohoku.

Akagi did a rebound and he threw it to Rukawa, who was a distance away. Rukawa threw the ball without any hesitation and immediately the ball went through the hoop with 3 points.

"Nani!" said Hirata, Ocean High's captain, in shock as Shohoku's supporters cheered.

"Rukawa!" yelled Rukawa Brigade. "Go Rukawa, we love you!"

"It's 21-20!" said Ayako happily.

Kogure supported his friends absentmindedly, because he couldn't get the image of Hiroko out of his mind.

* * *

Ding dong. 

Mr Gouhara went to open the door and found Sendoh at the door. "Akira, what a surprise, douzo ohairi kudasai!" said Mr Gouhara happily and he let Sendoh in.

"Konnichiwa, Ojiisan." said Sendoh in politeness. "Where's Hiroko?"

"In her room."

"But today is Sunday. Why isn't she out?" asked Sendoh innocently.

"I grounded her." said Mr Gouhara. "I don't want her to go out with that boy."

"Ara…" said Sendoh slowly. "But today is Shohoku's basketball match. She can't go out with Kogure even if you let her out."

"I know. She might go to the match and I don't want her to."

"I understand that, Ojiisan." said Sendoh, nodding. "But what if she's going out with me?"

"Eh?"

"I want to take her out for a day, she has been staying indoors for too long." said Sendoh kindly.

"But…"

"Ojiisan, onegai."said Sendoh. "Besides, I think it's good for me and Hiroko to go out more often, you know, we are getting married after all…"

"You promise that you won't take her to the amusement park?" asked Mr Gouhara.

"I promise. I know what the amusement park will do to her." said Sendoh, nodding.

"All right. Hiroko!"

Hiroko opened her door. "Nani?" she asked quietly.

"Akira is taking you out."

"Really?" asked Hiroko, looking rather pleased. "To where?"

"As long as it's not the amusement park or anywhere that could tire you out." said Mr Gouhara.

"Oh good, let me go and change…"

* * *

Hiroko closed the door and smiled. She walked to the cupboard and suddenly, she could feel a pain in her chest. Trying to ignore it, Hiroko opened her cupboard.

* * *

"Be back by 6pm!" called Mr Gouhara. 

"Don't worry, Ojiisan, I will make sure that she will." said Sendoh cheerfully as Hiroko got onto his bicycle.

"Ja ne, Otousan." said Hiroko and Sendoh rode off.

As soon as they turned around the corner, Hiroko said to Sendoh. "Can we get to the match on time?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure the match is not over yet. Hang on, cousin." said Sendoh and he rode faster towards the direction of the stadium.

Hiroko hung onto her cousin tightly. She felt excited for she was going to a basketball match for the first time and she knew she was going to see Kogure again. She rubbed her chest, trying to ease the pain in her heart.

* * *

The match went on. The score was now 59 to 60. Shohoku was going to catch up with Ocean High in any moment. 

"Mitsui!" yelled Sakuragi to the team's best three-point shooter and he passed the ball to him.

Mitsui caught hold of the ball and he was about to shoot when he felt pain in his left knee. He paused for a while, trying to get over the pain.

"Mitsui, what are you doing? Hurry up and throw!" called Akagi.

Mitsui looked up and saw Hirata running towards him, ready to hit the ball off his hands. So he aimed and threw the ball before he took two steps backward, rubbing his kneecap. The ball didn't go in and Sugimoto, Ocean High's ace player, got the ball. Ocean High's supporters cheered as Sugimoto ran with the ball. Mitsui stared and scowled before he got up and ran after Sugimoto.

"What the…" Ayako muttered. "Sensei, do you think Mitsui should get off the court?"

"No, if I haven't known Mitsui better, he won't get off until he falls down." said Anzai.

Sugimoto scored and the score was now 59- 62.

"Dou shita no, Mit-chin?" asked Sakuragi.

"Nothing." said Mitsui and tried to concentrate and ignore the pain.

"Do you want to take a rest?" asked Akagi.

"No!" said Mitsui immediately. "Daijoubu!"

The match continued. Mitsui tried to show that he was all right, but at the 17th minute of the game, the pain was just too much and Mitsui couldn't even run as fast as usual.

Miyagi got the ball and immediately, he threw it to Mitsui. Mitsui aimed for the hoop and suddenly, Sugimoto ran and pushed the ball away from his hands with a huge force from behind. His hand hit Mitsui and Mitsui, who was already not able to stand straight, fell to the floor.

"Mit-chin!" yelled Sakuragi in horror.

"Mitsui!"

The referee blew the whistle. "Foul!"

Mitsui tried to get up, but his knee was too painful for him to get up. "Itai…" he managed to say.

"Referee Time!" announced the referee, and the game was stopped for a while.

"Mitsui, are you all right?" asked Ayako as she rushed to him with a first-aid kit.

"Hai, I'm… ah!" yelled Mitsui in pain as he tried to bend his knee.

"Kogure, get ready to take over Mitsui." said Anzai.

"But Sensei, I…" started Mitsui.

"Don't force yourself, Mitsui." said Anzai as the stretcher was brought in.

Mitsui stared at the stretcher and said fiercely, "I don't want a stretcher! I want to stay here and watch the game!"

"Very well, Sakuragi, Akagi, carry Mitsui to the bench…" said Anzai

Kogure took off his shirt, revealing his red Shohoku No. 5 jersey. He did a little warm-up and swallowed nervously.

"Yoshi, Kogure, you better concentrate on the game, stop thinking about Hiroko and Sendoh…" he said to himself.

"All right everyone, Mitsui is one of our best players and now even he is out of the team. We must now work harder to win this game." said Akagi to his team mates.

"Don't worry, we can win even if Mitsui is out, I'm the tensai, you know…" said Sakuragi.

Everyone decided to ignore him.

* * *

"Yare yare, Mitsui is out. Now it's going to be hard for Shohoku to win…" Sendoh muttered. "And there's only 3 minutes left in the game…" 

"Can't Kogure help?" asked Hiroko worriedly.

"If he is good enough, he won't be sitting on the bench." said Sendoh. "His three-points shots are good, but comparing to the rest of the team…"

Hiroko frowned, then she had made up her mind. As soon as Shohoku returned to the court, she got up and yelled, "Gambate Kiminobu!"

Everyone in Shohoku team turned around.

"Ah, it's Hiroko-san!" said Sakuragi in surprise.

"What is she doing here? I thought she's not coming since she has dumped Kogure." said Miyagi.

"Maybe they kiss and make up?" suggested Sakuragi.

"Chotto, is that Sendoh over there? What is he doing beside Hiroko-san?" asked Miyagi.

Kogure didn't hear them, instead he looked at Hiroko and smiled in delight.

"How did she come here…" he said in amazement.

Then he saw Sendoh, who winked at him. He pointed at himself, then made a bicycle pose and pointed at Hiroko.

Kogure understood the message. "Arigato, Sendoh."

Kogure raised his hand at Hiroko and waved slightly. Hiroko smiled back and sat down.

"Maa, that's the first time I ever hear you yell, Hiroko." said Sendoh, grinning.

Hiroko smiled at her cousin and her smile faded when she felt the pain in her chest again.

* * *

"Yoshi, let's go everyone!" said Akagi. 

"Hai!" yelled the Shohoku team, including Kogure.

Now that Kogure had seen Hiroko, he seemed to be able to concentrate on the game.

Since Mitsui was out, Kogure had to take over and do Mitsui's 3 penalty shots. Closing his eyes, Kogure concentrated before he threw the ball.

"Get in!" thought of all the Shohoku members.

The ball went in. And the crowd cheered, including Hiroko and Sendoh.

Smiling, Kogure's confidence increased and he helped Shohoku gained another two points with his next shots.

"Go, Kogure sempai!" yelled the juniors at the bench happily. The score now was 67-68.

"We need to get one more point in order to catch up with them!" called Ayako.

Sugimoto got the ball and Akagi hit it away from him. Rukawa caught the ball and immediately, 4 players from Ocean High started to block him, for they realized how powerful Rukawa was.

Feeling trapped, Rukawa just threw the ball towards anyone he saw with a red jersey and Kogure caught the ball.

"Throw, Kogure, throw!" shouted Akagi.

Hiroko looked up and she forgot about her chest for a moment as she watched Kogure threw the ball through the air and it went into the hoop. Now the score was 70-68.

The audience went wild.

"3 points!" said Sakuragi happily. "Good one, Megane-kun!"

"We now have more points than Ocean High!" said Miyagi and he gave Kogure a high-five.

Hiroko jumped up and screamed in delight. Hiroko could now feel all the excitement around her. This was the first time she had been to a basketball match and she never knew how fantastic it could be… It was wonderful to see the one you loved to score…

Hiroko bit her lower lip and clutched her chest as the pain grew stronger. She sat back down, breathing heavily.

"Hiroko, are you all right?" asked Sendoh in concern.

Hiroko nodded and tried to concentrate on the game.

* * *

On the last 20 seconds of the game, Sakuragi did a rebound and he passed the ball to Miyagi. "Go Ryota, show them your speed!" he yelled. 

Miyagi ran in a top speed and while he was still running, he passed the ball to Rukawa, who threw the ball in and gained 3 points. The score was now 73-70.

"Go Shohoku, go!" yelled Ayako.

"Defence, everyone, defence!" called Mitsui.

Shohoku's supporters cheered.

* * *

"Let me bring you home, Hiroko…" said Sendoh. 

"No, I want to watch the match, it's ending soon anyway…"

* * *

Rukawa tried to throw the ball from a distance, but he was too far away and the ball bounced off the rim. Hirata did a rebound and he threw it to another player. The player caught it and Akagi slapped it off his hands. The ball flew out and Sakuragi jumped to catch the ball. 

Hiroko shook her head, trying to clear the sliver spots she saw in front of her. She felt like passing out any moment…

Sakuragi aimed and threw the ball. The ball went in just before the buzzer sounded. The score was 75-70, Shohoku won.

"We won! Yeah!" said the Shohoku players. Mitsui sat up and smiled.

"We are the best, oh yeah!" sang Sakuragi and Miyagi and they then did a victory dance.

"Baka." said Rukawa.

Akagi and Kogure gave each other high fives.

Hiroko smiled at the sight of Kogure's happy face weakly, then she couldn't hold out much longer and she fainted.

"Hiroko!" said Sendoh in horror. "Kogure, get over here!"

"Huh?" asked Kogure in confusion.

"Hiroko has fainted!"

Kogure went pale. "Hiroko!" Instantly, he ran out of the court, then to the audience's seats.

Hiroko's face was white and her eyes were closed. It was like she was dead. Kogure caught hold of her. "Hiroko, Hiroko, wake up!"

"Someone call the ambulance!" shouted Sendoh.

"Open your eyes, Hiroko!" called Kogure.

But Hiroko didn't wake up.


	16. Kogure’s Anger Unleashed

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Chapter 16: Kogure's Anger Unleashed

"The basketball game!" roared Mr Gouhara at Sendoh at the hospital. "Didn't I tell you not to bring her there, huh? Didn't I?"

"Gomen, Ojiisan, I didn't expect her to faint… she begged me to bring her to the game, I couldn't turn her down…" said Sendoh quietly.

"No use to apologize now," snapped Mr Gouhara. "Now your fiancée is in there, fighting for her life…"

"Eh, fiancée!" yelled everyone (except Kogure, who looked as if he was in a trance) in Shohoku basketball team. They were there as well (except for Mitsui, who was elsewhere in the hospital, getting his knee examined), in their Shohoku jerseys, for they didn't even have the time to change.

"Sodesu, my daughter is betrothed to her cousin Akira since they were babies." said Mrs Gouhara.

"Hiroko is engaged?" asked Haruko in horror.

"And Sendoh is her cousin?" asked Ayako.

"That's impossible!" said Miyagi.

"Oi, Megane kun, why didn't you tell us?" asked Sakuragi.

Kogure was silent.

"That's why I want her to break up with this boy. I don't want her to hang around with a basketball player." said Mr Gouhara.

"If Kogure is a basketball player, then what is Sendoh? A fisherman?" asked Sakuragi in disgust.

"You are just being biased." said Miyagi.

"Is it because you think Kogure isn't good enough for Hiroko?" asked Ayako.

Even Rukawa, who seldom talked, said his famous line to Mr Gouhara: "Do'ahou."

"That's enough!" shouted Mr Gouhara furiously. "Hora, I want you all to get out of here and out of my daughter's life! I spend 16 years of my life protecting her but you lure her to your stupid basketball match and what happen? Her life is now in danger and it's your entire fault!"

"Our fault?" echoed Miyagi in disbelief.

"If she hasn't met that boy, none of this would have happened…" started Mr Gouhara.

"Temee…" growled a voice.

"Shimatta." said Sakuragi, recognizing the voice.

Suddenly Kogure got up, grabbed Mr Gouhara by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

"Dame, Kogure sempai!" cried Ayako in horror.

Kogure wasn't listening. He was glaring at Mr Gouhara with fire in his eyes.

"Our fault? Who's the one who ban her from the match? Hiroko wants to grow up like any one of us here. She wants to be normal and not to be treated like a dying patient, yet you and your wife keep a close eye on her 24 hours a day. She's trapped, Gouhara-san! All she ever wants is freedom, free to go anywhere she likes, do whatever she wants and love whoever she wants! All your talk about protecting her is crap!"

"Somebody grab Kogure before he hits Gouhara-san!" said Ayako in panic.

"Kogure, calm down!" said Miyagi as he and Sakuragi grabbed Kogure on the arms to pull him away from Mr Gouhara.

"It's your fault that Hiroko is in the emergency room now, I won't let you off if she dies!" yelled Kogure.

Sendoh watched as Kogure's friends dragged Kogure to a distance away from the Gouharas and himself.

"_So Kogure isn't a person to be trifled with either…_" he thought.

* * *

Hiroko finally got out of the emergency room on a bed. Without hesitation, Kogure and his friends rushed to her before her family did. 

"Hiroko…" whispered Kogure.

Hiroko had her eyes closed and she didn't respond.

"Is she dead?" asked Haruko in fear to the doctor.

The doctor shook his head. "Iie, demo…"

"Demo?" asked Mr Gouhara, who finally got to his daughter's side.

"She's too weak. I have already given her an injection but her blood pressure still doesn't go up. This is all I can do. Now's it's up to her. If she pulls through tomorrow, she will survive, if not…"

"… she will die?" asked Sendoh.

The doctor nodded and turned to his nurses. "Take Gouhara-san to her room."

* * *

Kogure was in Hiroko's room, watching his girlfriend on her bed. An oxygen mask was over her face and there's a heartbeat indicator, showing the rate of her heartbeat. 

His team mates, the Gouharas and Sendoh were outside, watching everything through the glass window.

Sendoh looked at Kogure's depressed face and he made up his mind. He turned to his uncle.

"Ojiisan…" said Sendoh slowly. "I know I shouldn't be saying this right now, but I want to break off the betrothal."

Mr Gouhara stared at Sendoh. "Nandayo? Doushite?"

"Hiroko and Kogure love each other." explained Sendoh.

"Nonsense, Akira…" started Mr Gouhara.

"Ojiisan," said Sendoh, with a serious tone in his voice. "I mean it. I hate this betrothal right from the day I know what's right and wrong. Hiroko and I will not be happy if we married each other. You can't force a person to love someone. Think about it, Ojiisan. If you and Obasan are forced to marry someone else, will you two be happy?"

Mr Gouhara was silent.

"I love Hiroko only as a sister. Kogure is right, Hiroko wants freedom to love whoever she likes and as a parent, you should give her that."

"Demo…" started Mr Gouhara.

Sendoh held up his hand. "No more buts, Ojiisan, my decision is final. I'm not marrying Hiroko and that's that. I better go."

"Akira, where are you going?" said Mrs Gouhara.

"Fishing." said Sendoh. "No use for me to stay around and wait."

Sendoh left, leaving everyone in surprise.

"Forget about basketball." said Miyagi finally. "Actually Sendoh isn't so bad."

Ayako nodded in agreement.

"But he's still one very annoying good player." said Sakuragi.

"Let's go, everyone, it's no use for us to stay here either. We will go and see Mitsui, then go back to prepare for the match tomorrow." said Akagi.

The team left. The Gouharas watched their daughter and Kogure for a while.

"I want to go in." said Mr Gouhara.

"Dame, Shujin, leave the two of them alone." said his wife.

"Demo…"

"Let's go for dinner and come back later." said his wife and she practically dragged her husband away.

* * *

It was around 10 minutes after the couple left when Hiroko slowly opened her eyes. 

"Hiroko?" asked Kogure softly.

Hiroko's eyes were half-opened as she was very weak. She turned her head slightly and smiled at Kogure. She lifted her hand and Kogure took it.

"…Gomen, Kiminobu, I didn't mean to break up with you…" said Hiroko, her voice barely audible.

"It's all right. Sendoh told me everything." said Kogure quietly.

"… you don't hate me for not telling you?"

Kogure smiled. "Baka. Why should I? I understand perfectly."

"There's a game tomorrow for Shohoku, I won't go to the match, I will just stay here to be with you, all right?"

Hiroko's eyes widened slightly and shook her head. "… Iie… you must go…"

"Nani? But I want to stay here."

"You love basketball and it will be unfair if you miss it…"

"I will wait for the guys to come back and tell me the results…"

"…Iie… your team needs you. What if Mitsui's knee doesn't recover by tomorrow? You need to take his place…"

"…You're right. I need to take Mitsui's place."

Hiroko nodded. "… Kiminobu, I hope that I'm not asking too much… but promise me that your team will win the match tomorrow…"

Kogure held Hiroko's hand tighter. "I promise. Now you promise me one thing."

"… Nani?"

"Promise me that you will recover quickly. Once you have recovered, we will go to the amusement park again, how about that?"

Hiroko nodded again and smiled.


	17. Promises

Thank you for reviewing/reading!

Chapter 17: Promises

Everyone in the Shohoku basketball team was surprised to see Kogure when they gathered at the stadium for the match.

"Kogure, what are you doing here? What about Hiroko?" asked Ayako.

"She wants me to attend this match." said Kogure quietly and turned to Mitsui. "Mitsui, how's your knee?"

"It's okay now, I'm as good as new." said Mitsui, giving a cool smile.

"Good... I promise Hiroko that we will win the match today, now that you have recovered, I'm sure that we can win today…"

Mitsui stared at Kogure but he didn't say anything.

* * *

At the locker room, everyone gathered to listen to Coach Anzai for final instructions before they changed. Mitsui kept on looking at Kogure, who was putting on his jersey absent-mindedly. 

"Err, Kogure, you are wearing your jersey in the wrong way…" pointed out Miyagi.

Kogure looked down and noticed his mistake. Wordlessly, he just removed his jersey and wore it in the right direction.

Mitsui looked at his number 14 jersey and made up his mind. He went behind a row of lockers, out of everyone's sight.

"Yoshi, team, let's go and win today's match!" said Akagi when everyone heard a loud bang, like something against the metal locker, then Mitsui yelling in pain.

"Mitsui!" yelled Ayako and everyone ran to the direction of the sound. They found Mitsui on the floor, rubbing his knee in pain. "Itai…" he muttered.

"Mitsui, what happen to you?" asked Kogure in horror.

"I hit my knee on the locker… by accident." he added quickly.

Ayako examined Mitsui's knee. "Yare yare, it sure looks bad…"

Mitsui looked at the coach. "Anzai sensei, I don't think I can play today."

"Nani?" yelled Kogure in panic. "But you have to! I promise Hiroko that we will win today…"

"When?" asked Sakuragi, but Kogure ignored him.

"You can still win. Sensei, I want Kogure to take over my place. He's a decent player too."

"Very well then, Kogure, take Mitsui's place."

"Demo…"

"Kogure," said Mitsui seriously. "Since you are the one who promise Hiroko that we will win the match, it's better that you go and win the match together with the rest."

"Demo…"

"I won't let you to sit at the bench and let us take the credit." said Mitsui in a louder voice. "You are the one who make the promise and you must fulfil it yourself!"

The locker room was silent.

"Mitsui, you injure your knee on purpose, right?" asked Kogure quietly.

Everyone turned to look at Mitsui.

"None of your business," snapped Mitsui. "Now are you going to play or what?"

Everyone turned back and looked at Kogure.

Kogure was still for a while before he nodded.

Mitsui smiled. "Good. Now get out of here and win the game for Hiroko."

* * *

"It's the Shohoku team, they are out!" called the Shohoku supporters. 

"Eh? Where's Mitsui?" asked Kiyota, who came with his school, Kainan University High School to watch the match.

"His knee should have recovered by now." said Maki slowly.

"The vice-captain of the team has taken his place…" said Jin worriedly. "Is he good enough for it?"

"Don't underestimate Kogure, he's the one who score 3 points at the match against Ryonan at the last minute." said Maki.

"Go Akagi!" called Uozumi Jun.

"Ahh, Rukawa!" called the Rukawa Brigade in excitement and they waved their pom-poms at the sight of their idol. "Go Rukawa go!"

"Go Sakuragi!" yelled Sakuragi's Gundam.

"Where's Mitsui? Has anyone seen Mit-chin!" yelled Mitsui's gangster friends as they looked around for their former gang leader.

"What a racket…" said Kiyota in annoyance.

The other team was out and it was the Kirameki Independent High School, their players were as tall as Sakuragi and well-built.

The ball was released and Akagi and the Kirameki's captain, Fujisaki, jumped to catch the ball.

The match had officially started.

* * *

Sendoh didn't go for the match, instead, he stayed at the hospital to watch over his cousin. Hiroko was awake, but she was very weak. Sendoh quickly glanced at the clock. The match had started and wouldn't be over for another 35 minutes… 

"… Akira…"

"Nani?" asked Sendoh gently.

"Get a pen."

"E'?"

"… Onegai…"

* * *

7 minutes had gone and the score was now 16-20, Kirameki in the lead. 

Kiyokawa of the opposed team got the ball and threw, attempting to make a 3-points shoot.

Sakuragi jumped. "Want to do 3-points shot? Dream on!" he yelled and hit the ball off course before it could get in.

"Yeah, Sakuragi!" cheered the Sakuragi Gundam.

"Sakuragi's jumping skill certainly is excellent." commented Maki.

"So what? He's still a monkey…" muttered Kiyota.

The ball flew into Rukawa's hands, he ran to the other net, with the rest of the players chasing after him.

Rukawa jumped up in air and threw the ball neatly through the net.

Sakuragi's mouth dropped in horror, he didn't mean to hit the ball to Rukawa's direction… now Rukawa had earned 10 points for himself.

"Yeah, Rukawa!" screamed the Rukawa Brigade happily. "Rukawa, Rukawa, I love you!"

"Stupid monkey, who asked you to pass the ball to Rukawa!" asked Kiyota.

"Wild monkey, shut up and just watch the match!" yelled Sakuragi in anger.

"You monkey, how dare you make noise when you are the one who…" started Kiyota.

Maki knocked Kiyota on the head just when Akagi knocked Sakuragi on the head.

"Stop distracting other people, Kiyota!"

"Stop arguing and concentrate on the game, Sakuragi!"

"_Two idiots…_" thought Rukawa.

"Don't bother about Kiyota, Hanamichi," said Miyagi after Akagi left. "And…" he put his arm around Sakuragi's shoulder and said quietly, "pass the ball to Kogure more often. He needs to get some points for himself."

Sakuragi nodded.

The score was 18-20.

* * *

"Megane-kun!" called Sakuragi and passed the ball to Kogure. But Fujisaki hit it away and Kiyokawa caught the ball. 

"Kiyokawa you bastard! That ball is for Megane-kun!" yelled Sakuragi in anger and he chased after Kiyokawa.

"Sakuragi is angry, better get ready to stop him!" said Mito of the Sakuragi Gundam.

Kiyokawa looked back and found Sakuragi chasing after him like a lion, quickly he passed it to Sato of his team before Sakuragi jumped right onto him.

The referee blew the whistle at Sakuragi. "Foul! Red jersey number 10!"

"Nani?" yelled Sakuragi in horror.

Sakuragi got up and immediately, Miyagi went to kick him on the butt. "Baka! I told you to pass the ball to Kogure for him to gain points for our team, not to give points to the other team!"

"Do'aho." muttered Rukawa.

Kiyokawa's two penalty shots went in and the score was now 18-22. To make the matter worse, Sakuragi jumped onto Kiyokawa on purpose, so it's Kirameki who would have the possession of the ball after the two penalty shots.

Kirameki scored easily and the score was now 18-24.

* * *

Soon, the score was 24-28 and Shohoku still couldn't catch up with Kirameki University High, there're only a few seconds left at the first-half of the game. 

"Defence, guys, defence!" yelled Mitsui.

Miyagi got the ball and immediately, he was surrounded by the Kirameki University High players, quickly, he ducked and passed the ball to Rukawa, who ran to the net. He jumped and found that he was blocked by Kiyokawa. At the corner of his eye, he saw Kogure and he threw the ball to the vice-captain while he was still in the air.

Kogure caught the ball and he threw it before anyone could get to him. His friends watched the ball sailed through the air and neatly through the net.

The referee blew the whistle, indicating the end of the first half. The score was now 27-28.

"3 points! Yeah!" cheered Sakuragi.

"We are behind by just one point!" said Miyagi happily. "We can win!"

"Good job, Kogure, keep it up!" called Akagi.

Kogure smiled, then he ran for the phone booth at the resting room to make a phone call.

* * *

"Hiroko is fine, she's still hanging on." said Sendoh at the hospital reception counter. 

"Good." said Kogure.

"How's the game?"

"We are still behind by one point."

"Gambatte."

"Arigato. We will go over after the match." said Kogure and he hang up the phone.

"How is she?" asked Ayako.

"Still hanging on." said Kogure. He then sat down on the chair.

"We must get more points, otherwise we will never catch up with Kiremeki." said Miyagi.

"Sodesu. Sakuragi, you handle Sato. Rukawa, deal with Kiyokawa and I will take care of Fujisaki. We must win this match, both for ourselves and Hiroko-san." said Akagi seriously.

Everyone nodded. Sakuragi turned and found Kogure in a trance. He elbowed Miyagi and put his hand on Kogure's shoulder. "Megane-kun…"

Kogure looked up.

"Don't worry, we won't let you and Hiroko down." said Sakuragi. "We will win this match if this is the last thing we do."

"Now let's work hard together and show those Kirameki players that we are the best." said Miyagi.

Kogure smiled slightly and nodded.

* * *

The second half of the match started. Shohoku put up a good defence and wouldn't let Kirameki to score easily. 

Sato caught the ball and he was blocked by Sakuragi.

"Hurry up, 30 seconds is almost up!" yelled Fujisaki.

"Oi, Sato!" called a voice. "Throw it here!"

Immediately, Sato threw the ball to the direction of the voice.

"Sato, no!" said Fujisaki.

Sakuragi turned and laughed. Sato looked and found that he had thrown the ball to Miyagi.

"Arigato!" called Miyagi as he ran off. Then he did a jump shot.

The score was 29-28.

"That's a dirty trick!" said Kiyota.

"But pretty clever." said Maki coolly.

Shohoku's supporters roared and cheered as their team was now ahead by one point.

As Sakuragi and Miyagi gave each other a high-five, Fujisaki knocked Sato on the head.

* * *

The score was now 60-59, Kirameki managed to catch up with Shohoku and now there's only 1 minute left in the second half. 

Fujisaki got the ball and he made a fake pass to Kiyokawa before he threw the ball backwards, to Sato. Not wasting another second, Sato ran and jumped.

"Block him, Akagi!" called Uozumi.

Akagi jumped to block Sato but Sato didn't try to score, instead, he threw it aside to Fujisaki, who had arrived to the other side of the court.

Fujisaki then threw the ball in behind Akagi. The score was 60-61. Kirameki was in the lead once again.

"Don't let them score again!" yelled the Kainan University High team players, who were getting anxious as well.

* * *

There was only 15 seconds left in the game and Shohoku still hadn't scored. Every player was getting tired. Sakuragi did a rebound and he was blocked by Fujisaki, Sato and Kiyokawa. Sakuragi looked around and found that none of his team mates were near him.

10, 9, 8…

Getting panic, he saw Kogure rushing towards him.

"Pass it to me!" he yelled.

Without hesitation, Sakuragi threw the ball to Kogure.

"Kogure, do whatever you want, you must score!" yelled Mitsui.

Kogure ran with the ball and with Hiroko in his mind, he jumped high up in the air.

"Nani?" exclaimed Kiyota in shock.

"What a great height!" said Mito.

"He's jumping as high as Rukawa and Sakuragi!" said Aida of Ryonan. "Incredible!"

7… 6…5…

"Nobody is blocking him!" said Fujisaki.

4… 3…

"Dunk it!" said Mitsui.

Kogure dunked the ball through the net.

2… 1

Everyone gaped at Kogure. No one would ever thought that he could do a slam dunk, just like Rukawa, Sakuragi and Akagi.

Kogure landed on his feet before the referee blew his whistle.

The score was 62 – 61. Shohoku won.

"Yatta!" yelled Kogure.

The Shohoku team supporters cheered and everyone in the team (except Rukawa) ran to congratulate Kogure.

"We won, we won!" cheered Ayako.

"You did it, Kogure, you have fulfilled your promise!" said Mitsui (who seemed to be able to walk again) to Kogure as he hugged his best friend.

"That's a beautiful dunk shot!" said Ayako, slapping Kogure's back.

"Who could imagine that you would actually do a dunk shot?" said Miyagi.

"Some credit goes to Sakuragi too, if he didn't pass the ball to Kogure, who knows what will happen?" said Haruko.

"Mochiron, I'm a tensai!" said Sakuragi as Miyagi slapped him on the back, laughing.

"Yes you are." said Haruko happily.

"Come on, let's go and line up." said Akagi.

* * *

Sendoh held onto Hiroko's free hand. "Hang on, Hiroko. The match should be finished at this time. Kogure and the others will come back soon." 

Hiroko looked at her cousin. "… Do you think they will win?"

Sendoh smiled. "Don't underestimate the Shohoku team, they beat Ryonan, Shoyo and almost beat Kainan as well, they will win."

Hiroko smiled back but then her smile faded and she tightened her grip on Sendoh's hand.

Sendoh's smile faded. Hiroko was breathing steadily at first, but at the next second, everything just changed. She was now breathing with difficulty and her heartbeat increased.

"Sensei, sensei!" yelled Sendoh, then he watched helplessly as the beeps on the monitor ceased.

* * *

Kogure ran out of the stadium with his friends and tried to get a taxi. 

"Megane-kun! Don't bother about the taxi, I will give you a lift!" said Sakuragi as he unlocked his bicycle.

Kogure stared uncertainly. "Are you sure?"

"Hanamichi can ride a bicycle faster than a car." said Mito helpfully.

"Go Kogure, we will catch up." said Mitsui.

Kogure swallowed and got onto Sakuragi's bicycle.

"Hang on, Megane-kun." said Sakuragi seriously and immediately, he took off, like a jet.

* * *

The doctor tried to work on Hiroko but no matter how hard he tried, Hiroko's heartbeat just went slower and slower. Finally the monitor gave a long beep, signalling her death. 

Sendoh sat back on the chair in disbelief as the doctor told him that his cousin was gone.

* * *

"Here we are." said Sakuragi as he stopped outside the hospital. Kogure got off and tried to steady himself. 

"Don't worry, you will get use to it." said Sakuragi.

As soon as Kogure had steadied himself, he ran off to Hiroko's room.

Once he opened the door, he called, "Hiroko, we won!"

Hiroko was motionless. Sendoh was on his chair, his back facing Kogure.

"Hiroko is sleeping, isn't she, Sendoh?" asked Kogure and smiled. "I hope I didn't wake her up…"

Sendoh turned and Kogure's smile faded. Sendoh's eyes were red and his face was stained with tears. This was first time Kogure ever saw Sendoh cried.

"… Hiroko is sleeping, isn't she?" asked Kogure as Sakuragi arrived behind him breathlessly.

Sendoh shook his head. "She has left, Kogure." he said quietly.

Kogure and Sakuragi were still. The rest of the Shohoku team arrived.

Kogure shook his head. "She hasn't."

"She has." said Sendoh.

"She promised me that she would recover."

"Kogure…" started Sendoh.

"She broke her promise!" yelled Kogure.

Haruko covered her mouth in shock when she realised what Kogure had meant. The boys were stunned.

"She promised…" said Kogure and he rushed to Hiroko's body. "Hiroko… stop playing and wake up, I have fulfilled my promise, you can't just break yours…"

Remembering about his father's death, Sakuragi wiped away his tears and found Haruko crying. Without thinking, he pulled her close and let her cried on his shoulder. Ayako was crying on Miyagi's shoulder. Miyagi was too stunned to notice. Akagi sniffled. Mitsui didn't move, but tears had rolled down his cheeks silently. Sendoh buried his face in his hands.

"Hiroko, I told you that we would go to the amusement park again, you can't just…" said Kogure and he wept.

He gave Hiroko a kiss before he pressed his face gently against hers with his eyes closed.

As usual, while everyone was expressing their sorrow, Rukawa had no expression on his face. He watched as Kogure hugged his girlfriend, but then, even he went as far as looked away and sighed.


	18. Hiroko's Farewell

Thank you all for reading/reviewing!

Chapter 18: Hiroko's Farewell

Kogure was playing basketball in the sports hall listlessly. He then did a three-point shot and the ball bounced off the rim.

"Kiminobu!"

Kogure turned and his eyes widened.

Hiroko was there at the door, smiling at him.

Kogure smiled back in delight and made his way to her. He grabbed her hands and pulled her into his arms.

"Hiroko, I miss you."

Hiroko didn't say anything. Kogure released her.

"Don't leave me again, all right?" he asked as he held her hands.

Hiroko just stared at him sadly and shook her head. "I have to go."

"Nani? Again? To where?" asked Kogure anxiously.

"Don't ask me, onegai…" Hiroko and pulled her hands out of Kogure's grasp. "I'm leaving. Sayonara."

After giving Kogure a goodbye kiss, she turned and started to run.

"Hiroko, chotto matte!" called Kogure. "Don't go, please!"

* * *

"No…" 

"Kogure…"

"Hiroko, please…"

"Kogure…"

Kogure suddenly sat upright at his seat, yelling, "Hiroko, don't leave me!"

Silence.

Breathing heavily, Kogure wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

"He's dreaming again…"

"It's the fourth time this week…"

"Poor Kogure…"

Kogure looked around and finally realized that he was in a class. All of his classmates were looking at him in fear and anxiety. Slowly, Kogure got up.

"Gomen nasai, Sensei." said Kogure quietly to his teacher.

"You need to go the infirmary, Kogure." suggested his teacher.

Shaking his head slightly, Kogure said, "I… I think I need some fresh air."

"You are excused." said his teacher.

Immediately, Kogure walked out of the class. Once the door closed behind him, his classmates began to whisper.

The teacher shook her head in sympathy. "Poor child."

"Kogure…" thought Akagi and sighed.

* * *

Kogure was excused from the rest of the classes and was allowed to go home. Instead of going home, he walked on the shopping street, thinking about the places he and Hiroko went. 

He passed by a sports equipment shop and saw all the beautiful tennis rackets on display.

Immediately, he remembered how he and Hiroko met. It was like just yesterday when she hit him with her tennis ball by accident… Hiroko was so active and beautiful back then…

Everytime when they were together, Kogure would always see a smile on Hiroko's face. Her smile was radiant and Kogure loved to see it when it appeared. He loved the way her lips curved when she smiled and he sometimes would simply lean forward and captured that smile with his own lips…

But now he never got a chance to see it again. Hiroko was dead.

Remembering Hiroko's death, tears filled his eyes and sniffling, Kogure wiped them away and continued his way.

* * *

"Gather!" yelled Akagi at the sports hall during the basketball practice. 

Everyone hurried to gather.

"Eh? Akagi, where's Kogure?" asked Mitsui as he looked around.

Silence.

"He doesn't have the mood to attend." said Akagi finally.

"Again?" asked Mitsui quietly.

"Kogure sempai…" thought Ayako.

Silence.

"When is he going to stop feeling depressed? We are all upset as well." said Sakuragi. "I know it's hard to get over your loved one's death, but it's time for him to get a grip."

Immediately, he made his way towards the door.

"Sakuragi, where are you going?" asked Ayako.

"Find Megane-kun and wake him up." said Sakuragi, showing Ayako his fist.

Instantly, Mitsui and Miyagi knew what Sakuragi was going to do. They rushed to Sakuragi and held him back.

"Oi, let go of me!" yelled Sakuragi.

"Dame! You will make things worse!" said Miyagi.

"Let Kogure be!" said Mitsui and turned to the younger students. "Don't just stand there! Help us stop Sakuragi!"

As the rest of the basketball team (except Rukawa, who just sighed and shrugged helplessly) went to help Mitsui and Miyagi, Akagi turned to Anzai. "Sensei, what shall we do about Kogure?"

"Akagi… Kogure will come back when he wants to come back." said Anzai.

* * *

Kogure didn't get home until night and once he did, he went to his bedroom and locked himself up in it. 

Lying on his bed in darkness, Kogure hadn't the mood to do anything else. For a few times, he thought he might as well just lie there and die of a broken heart… then he could join Hiroko…

Knock Knock

Kogure blinked and lifted his head slightly at the sound.

"Kiminobu? Are you asleep?" asked his mother in concern outside.

"Iie, Okaasan," said Kogure quietly.

"You have a visitor."

Kogure closed his eyes and lay his head back onto his pillow. "I don't want to see anybody."

"Demo, Kiminobu, he says that he can't leave without seeing you first, because he has something important to give you."

Kogure was silent for a while before he got up. "Okay, I will see him."

* * *

Kogure was surprised to see who's at the door. 

"Sendoh?"

"Konbanwa." said Sendoh, nodding slightly. He was wearing a suit (which, to Kogure, looked rather odd on the Ryonan Ace Player) and had a large suitcase in his hand. He also had a small box in his other hand.

"How are you doing?" asked Sendoh.

"Not so good. You?"

"Bad." said Sendoh quietly.

"Um… what's with the suitcase?" asked Kogure.

"Actually, that's the reason why I'm here. I'm here to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

Sendoh nodded. "I'm leaving Japan."

Kogure blinked in surprise. "Where are you going?"

"America."

"Will you be coming back?"

Sendoh smiled slightly and shook his head. "I don't want to come back here any more. Too many memories. I want to start anew in America."

"Oh."

"There's another reason why I'm here…" said Sendoh and put down his things.

He took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Hiroko wants me to give this to you in case… well, she dies. I helped her wrote it while she was in the hospital."

Kogure stared at the letter before he swallowed and took it.

"Ah, and this too…" said Sendoh, picking up the box. "It's Hiroko's music box. Her parents were sorting through her stuff when they saw it. They found out that it's you who gave it to her, so they asked me to pass it to you. They figured that you might want it."

Kogure took the box. "A-arigato."

Sendoh smiled slightly and picked up his suitcase.

"Read the letter, okay? I have to go to the airport now…" said Sendoh and turned.

"Do you want me to see you off?" asked Kogure.

Sendoh paused for a while and shook his head. "No need. Just read the letter."

"Okay."

"By the way… although you and Hiroko can't be together…" Sendoh turned and smiled at Kogure. "I still treat you as my future cousin-in-law."

Kogure smiled slightly and held out his hand. Sendoh took it.

"Good luck." said Kogure, shaking Sendoh's hand.

"Arigato. Sayonara."

"Sayonara. Give my regards to the basketball team. If you ever return to the team, that is." he said and left.

* * *

Kogure went back to his room and sat down on his desk. Quickly, he unfolded the paper and read it: 

**Dear Kiminobu,**

**First, I want to apologize for not being able to fulfil my promise to you, gomen nasai.**

**Thank you so much for loving me this few months. I really cherish our relationship and the happy times we have. **

**Ever since I know that I'm betrothed to Akira, I thought that I will never have a chance to love.**

**But that's before I met you. **

**You bring me joy, friends like Ayako, Haruko, Mitsui… and most importantly, love. You love me with all your heart and I know that. For some reason, I know that our relationship won't have a happy ending, but I don't care. I just want to love you and enjoy our relationship while it lasts.**

**What a great price I have to give in order to love you! But since I already have a chance to love, I will leave the mortal world without regrets.**

**Kiminobu, although I have died, I have never truly left you. I heard that when a person dies, he or she will become one of the stars in the night sky. I'm now a star in the night sky, watching you. You must be strong and live on happily.**

**Remember, I'm still by your side.**

**Aishiteru. **

**Hiroko**

* * *

Kogure put down the letter and closed his eyes. He opened them and took out Hiroko's music box. Slowly, he winded it up. 

As the soft music filled the air, he thought of all the wonderful moments that he and Hiroko shared. Smiling slightly at the memories, Kogure got up and went to the window. He then pushed it open and looked up to the night sky, where million of stars shined.

"Hiroko… I promise you… I will get back on my feet… Don't worry... aishiteru."

* * *

The Shohoku basketball team was practicing again in the sports hall on a Saturday. When they were about to start practice, the hall's doors opened. 

"Kogure!" exclaimed Miyagi.

"Kogure sempai, you're back!" cried Ayako in delight.

Smiling slightly, Kogure nodded and went to Anzai.

"I'm back, sensei." said Kogure, bowing at the coach.

"Ho ho ho…" said Anzai sensei, pleased.

"Oi, Kogure, daijobu?" asked Mitsui.

Kogure smiled again. "I'm all right now."

He turned to Akagi. "Let's start practice."

"Yoshi, everyone together now!" called Akagi.

Everyone, including Kogure, all lowered themselves at the center of the court. Together, they yelled, "Shohoku! Gambatte!"

Anzai smiled at Kogure, who was now jogging around the hall with the rest of the team. He was glad that Kogure could finally pull himself together, even though it might still take him a while to get over Hiroko's death completely.

Gambatte, Kogure! Today is a brand new day!

The End


End file.
